


Our Midnights

by puffstrikesback (nadvaa)



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Smut, Exploration, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Gratuitous Smut, Light Angst, Loss of Virginity, Newt is eager to learn, Newtina Appreciation Month, POV Newt Scamander, POV Tina Goldstein, Post-Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Sexuality, Sleeping Together, Smut, THEY'RE SWITCHERS, Tina meet Bunty, Vacation, Virgin Newt, are you into smutfest? lets join the lime party here, meanwhile tina is thirsty af, newtina, war what?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 20:36:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16878756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadvaa/pseuds/puffstrikesback
Summary: Both of them were aware of each other’s feeling, or at least that was what Newt thought. Before the wrong publication about his engagement. Before she dated someone else.Tina earned a weekend off before she had to go back to MACUSA. After a night spent together, Newt asked her out on a vacation. Finally, they have a little private time to get to know each other and to explore what they've been ignored before.





	1. After the Battle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is the very first fic I've ever written in my life, and I'm not a native English speaker. So please, go easy on me. I hope you enjoy this!  
> A huge thank you for letmedownslowly23 and newtsnifflerss for being my beta reader and helping me edit this fic!!

****“It’s late. How about we end this and you can call Miss Goldstein to come here so I can get you two home, Newt? I suppose she’s staying at your house?”

“She is,” he nodded, for some reason he felt a bit embarrassed. But that didn’t stop the smile cracking from his mouth.

“I’ll arrange the portkey. It’s easier to use the Floo, of course, but I don’t have time to tell Travers about our meeting,” he smiled, his voice sounded tired. He looked over Newt, the fire was flickering in his eyes. “He is still watching the Floo Network, especially what’s coming in and out of my office.”

Dumbledore stood up and start searching for something in his glass cabinet. He opened a drawer full of silver trinkets in silence. “I’ll go get Tina,” declared Newt after eyeing the pensieve cabinet beside him.

He walked toward the door, to the Defence of the Dark Arts classroom. His old classroom. He looked at the seats and spotted Tina sitting two rows behind his old seat. Tina had been waiting alone for about an hour. She didn’t mind. She spent the time resting, enjoying being alone in a classroom full of clutter after two full days in the Ministry, answering a lot of questions. Both of them were very tired, and Newt hasn’t had a proper bath for a few days.

“Tina!” he called her, nodding his head towards Dumbledore’s office.

She looked up from the book she’d been reading, putting it back to the shelf, and walked to him, a little worried. “Do you need me? Does he wanna talk to me, Newt?”

“Um. We’re finished. We can go home now, Tina,” Newt outstretched his hand to her.

Tina stepped up the stairs to the office, still holding herself elegantly but looked very tired. She took Newt’s hand, “You okay with me staying with you? I mean—I don’t know anyone in London, but I can—”

“Of course it’s okay,” he smiled, shaking his head a bit. “You let me stay in your apartment for days months ago.” He was referring to the time when they were required to report everything they know about Credence and Grindelwald to MACUSA. Instead of accompanying Newt to find another accommodation, Tina asked him to stay with her and Queenie (slyly, of course).

Newt led Tina with her thankful smile into Dumbledore’s office and then closed the door behind them. Dumbledore was already sitting in his desk, with a small copper vase in front of him. He gestured to them so they moved closer to his desk.

“I suggest two spoonfuls of sleeping draught, Miss Goldstein,” Dumbledore said. “You’ll feel better tomorrow. _Portus!_ ”

Newt offered his arm to Tina. She held his arm tightly and they advanced to the portkey. Her lips formed a little smile. “Thank you, Professor Dumbledore,” she said.

“We’ll meet again to arrange your return to MACUSA in a couple of days. Now come on, the portkey is going in ten seconds.”

Newt looked at the vase, that was starting to glow blue. He took his case and thought about a good bath after this trip, and that made him smile. “Good night, Dumbledore,” he said, a second before grabbing the portkey.

 

***

They arrived just seconds later at Newt’s front steps, slightly breathless from the trip. It was 11 at night and Newt was confused to see his sitting room’s window gleaming with warm yellow light. Meanwhile, Tina was looking around at Newt’s neighbourhood, interest in her eyes.

“Oh. Either it’s Bunty or the niffler babies are on the loose again,” he sighed. He managed to open the door silently. Both of them were looking at the room expectantly, ready to find some mess.

But it was a quiet room, no baby niffler to be seen. Newt frowned. It’s late already, and she’s still here? He often found Bunty still working even though it was past her work time. And sometimes she didn’t want Newt to pay her overtime. He really liked Bunty because she’s dedicated, hardworking, and care about the creatures. But these kinds of times made him slightly uncomfortable. Bunty only said _don’t worry, Newt, I love spending time here—with them._

“Bunty?” asked Tina, took off her coat, putting it on the chair. Her gaze drifted all over Newt’s house. “Is that one of your creatures?”

Newt took off his overcoat and his coat, picked up Tina’s, and put it on the hanger. He rolled up his sleeves and started to boil water. He put his wand behind his ear then opened a box of tea. “Uh. She’s my assistant. Should’ve been gone hours ago,” he told her awkwardly with _I’m sorry_ gaze toward Tina.

“You got an assistant?”

“Yes,” he answered, spilling a bit of the water while pouring it into a cup. “To help with my creatures. She comes in the morning and leaves after I get home from the Ministry. Please have a seat, Tina.”

Newt looked at Tina, who was standing in front of him. She leaned back to the counter, but swiftly changed her position to beside the chair. Newt put down a cup of tea with biscuits to the table. She sat down after the tea. “You only made one? I thought we’re gonna sit here together and…” she caught Newt’s stare and drifted off.

They locked stares for three seconds before Newt looked away and gave her his shy smile. And then he bolted out of the room while taking off his waistcoat. “I’m really sorry, Tina, please give me a second—Bunty! Oi, Bunty!”

He opened the door to his basement, looking around for Bunty. It was calm inside his basement except only for the sick augurey shrieking weakly. Two cute kneazle kittens coming up to him, asking for snuggles. He picked them up and looked for Bunty while scratching their heads.

“Newt!” shouted Bunty slightly distressed, coming on to him and taking the kneazle kittens away from him. “You came back from Paris! All of a sudden, I thought you can’t go abroad? I was worried! I’m so glad you’re okay, because—because I heard that… Miss Lestrange…” her voice was gone. She stroked the kittens quietly, stealing glances to Newt. “I’m sorry, Newt,” she said quietly.

Newt gave her a little nod and a sad smile. “Thank you, but I’m okay. Now, Bunty, you really don’t need to stay here after your hours. Please go home, get some rest,” he pleaded, “take the kittens to their mother, and then please, go home.”

Bunty looked like she was going to protest. But she brought the kittens to their mother and followed Newt afterwards. “You’re sure you don’t need anything?”

“It’s really late, Bunty, I’m fine. Please rest. Thank you for your help today. And you don’t need to come early tomorrow.”

She was strolling behind Newt, climbing the staircase. “Why?” she demanded. “Susie needs her morning eye drops! And I haven’t finished taking Blue’s venom—oh!”

Tina was standing at the end of the steps, behind the open door, holding her cup with two hands.

Newt walked past Tina, giving Bunty more view of her. He stood uncomfortably, moving his body weight on his leg. “Bunty, meet Tina. Tina, this is my assistant, Bunty.”

Tina smiled and kindly said, “Hi, Bunty.”

“It’s you,” Bunty muttered under her breath. She was looking at Tina quietly for a second before finally became aware and threw a weak smile to Tina.

“I’m sorry?”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry.” she gave her a bigger smile. “Hello, Miss. I just—I’ll—” she glanced desperately to Newt. Bunty took a deep breath and walked to the coat hanger. “It is late, yes. Good night, Newt,” she waved while wearing her coat hurriedly.

“Night, Bunty,” said Newt, looking at her trailing off to the door, and disapparated later.

They stood beside each other quietly, following Bunty’s departure. Newt was stealing glances to Tina—they were both finally alone, and he didn’t really know what to do. He pushed the basement door close. He hoped to talk to Tina alone about their relationship—maybe later, after a bath, or maybe tomorrow, after a good sleep. He couldn’t deny that he had thought about _that Auror_ Queenie mentioned about—Achilles Tolliver—a couple of times.

“You have a very spacious basement, Mr Scamander.” Tina broke the silence. “And a lovely house. Can I go down there later?” she pointed her cup to the basement door.

Newt dropped his grim thought about Tina spending a lovely time with a random man. “Yes, of course. Now, don’t you want to take a bath? And you can have the guest room tonight. My room is way too messy.”

She smiled, a little laugh came from her mouth. “Hmm. Am I that smelly, Newt?”

“...no, but you just slept on Parisian sewer a couple of days ago,” he smiled back, walking her toward his sitting room. “Take a hot bath, Tina. I’ll bring you my spare pyjamas. Let’s go upstairs.”

Not that Newt had thought about this repeatedly, but he was happy to finally host Tina in his house. They spent months exchanging letters, with the three latest months in silence. He thought Tina was mad at him because his strong-worded letter about Aurors—but it turned out a stupid magazine had made her mad at him—and started to date another man.

That stupid magazine. Talking rubbish about his engagement to Leta. Leta… his heart painfully pulsated. He can’t even look at Theseus, who was engaging his own self with Nagini’s case. He wished he had a pensieve, to relieve bad memories from his head. That will help, he thought, because he was so confused about feeling devastated from losing Leta and delighted to finally spend some quiet time with Tina.

They climbed upstairs and Newt showed Tina her room for tonight. It was a clean, small, and humble room. “The bathroom is right next door. This is for you—” he conjured a set of clean pyjamas from his drawer and gave it to her.

“Thanks, Newt. Great color of choice, yellow and blue…,” She smiled awkwardly sweet. Newt thought it was so cute that made him want to kiss her—but he didn’t. He just stood there, lifting his arm to touch her jaw affectionately.

“I better go, you need to use your bathroom later too,” she looked away and headed off to the bathroom. He stood there watching her closed the door.

His bedroom door swung open when he walked into it. “ _Lumos_.”

He looked at it for ten seconds and decided to tidy up. Newt flicked his wand—a stack of papers sorted out itself and flew into the cabinet, spilt ink on his desk splashing back into its container, books he had signed floating to the box on the corner, and his old blue overcoat drifted off from his bed to his wardrobe.

It wasn’t that much, but it made his room look better. There was so much stuff in his room. He kind of forgot that he needed to sign another box of books before next week— he better get that done tomorrow.

Newt lit up the lamp, took off his shirt and suspenders and put it away. He just sat down on his bedside before being startled from hearing a knock on his door.

Tina was peeking from outside. “Newt? Oh.”

“Yes, Tina?” Newt stood right up, approaching Tina.

She opened the door a bit wider. “Um… do you have, er, umm... a spare toothbrush?” she asked, flustered. Her cheek turned a darker shade and she had a hard time looking at his eyes.

“Of course,” Newt conjured a toothbrush from thin air and gave it to her. She bit her bottom lip. He felt embarrassed but he enjoyed her gaze to his body. He was self-conscious about his appearance.

“That’s… that’s a lot of scars, Newt,” there was a little worry in her tone.

He looked at his right shoulder, where a large burn scar took place. “It all has its story.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me about your scar stories later, Mr Scamander?” she asked without waiting for an answer, giving him a coy flirtatious smile and then left toward the bathroom.

Newt sniffed a laugh while staring at her back. _Does she still date that Auror?_ He hoped that it was just a fling. _But… what if she still dates that Auror?_ He was thinking about a better looking, well-built man skilled enough to be an Auror. _Just like his brother._ He hated thinking about this.

 _That is why you need to talk to her._ Both of them were aware of each other’s feeling, or at least that was what Newt thought. Before the wrong publication about his engagement. Before she dated someone else. He decided not to worry about this and started to check on his wand, looking for damage.

It was not long until Tina called Newt to let him know that she has finished. She looked a lot more relaxed and fresh. She gave him a grin before disappearing behind her door.

He wanted to take a long, hot bath, but he managed to take only a hot shower. He wanted to talk to Tina immediately before she fell asleep. He put on fresh pyjama pants—and considered to ditch the shirt. He enjoyed looking at flustered Tina and being under her longing gaze but it was a chilly night, so he put it on.

Newt was surprised to find Tina already inside his room. She sat on the edge of his bed, tucked her legs while reading his book. The book he promised to give her. Suddenly he remembered that he prepared a book just for her—but it never got to her, because his visa was denied two days after. Said package just sat inside his case, waiting to be given to Tina.

“Tina,” said Newt, his heart was beating faster. He wasn’t used to having a girl sleeping over at his house, let alone sitting in his room.

She put down his book and smiled weakly. “I bought your book, Newt. Thought you will never come back to New York.”

Tina sounded upset and guilty. Newt sat down beside her. “I tried, Tina. Merlin’s beard, I tried to apply for my visa five times.” There was a silence. “I told you in my last letter when they denied my second application.”

Her eyes enlarged. She avoided his eyes and looked very uncomfortable. “Hm. I… I might have not read your last letter,” she said, hanging her head down. “I’m sorry I mean—I was—I thought you’re gonna tell me about how—how _joyful_ you are about the engagement—”

“I came to Paris just to see you,” he said quietly, not looking at her.

She was a little surprised. “Did you? I thought Dumbledore asked you to.”

Newt shrugged. “Well, he did ask me. When I thought about it later, the Ministry asked me to go to Paris too. But no, Tina, listen—I broke the law for you.”

“How did you—” she was beaming, “how did you know that I’m—” her smile left her face. “Huh. Jacob. And Queenie.”

He gave her a weak smile. Newt didn’t want to mention Queenie. Tina already hid her face inside her palms, her whole body started to tremble.

“She’ll be okay, Tina. She’s a great asset for Grindelwald. Sure, he might use her only for her gift on Legilimency. But she’s a great Occlumens too, you said? She can take care of herself. Grindelwald will spare her.”

Tina was sobbing. Her voice muffled from her hands, “B—but—what if, what if the Aurors—y’know, killed her? You’re… you’re right, Newt. They just—they’ll just execute anyone—”

“Theseus will lead this movement,” Newt interrupted her. He tried to comfort Tina but he wasn’t sure _how._ He embraced her, put her head on his shoulder. “They just assigned him yesterday. He won’t let his Aurors carelessly recite the killing curse, I can assure you.”

She looked at him. “We should tell Thes, Newt, I need to tell him about Queenie,” she pleaded. “Or will you please tell him, Newt? Oh, you’re his brother, he’ll listen to you, right? I should’ve listened to Queenie,” she added quietly.

Newt was sure that Theseus won’t do a reckless move, even if he didn’t know Queenie. But to reassured Tina, he answered, “I will. Of course, Tina. I’ll let Theseus know that he needs to warn his team about Queenie.”

He met her eyes. She broke a weak smile. After he finished his manuscript, he imagined visiting her in New York, giving her his book—she’s grinning, welcome him to her new office, and maybe they’ll have her favourite coffee from the café at the end of the road near her apartment. Soothe, quiet, happy situation. He could try to help Jacob and Queenie if they wanted to elope in England and started their bakery here. And maybe, _maybe—_ a selfish thought flooding his head— it will make Tina want to move to London.

_Too soon, Newt. Too soon._

She nodded enthusiastically, wiped her eyes, and let out a relieved laugh. Newt caressed her back, his hand lingering there. His room felt warmer with the fire playfully dancing inside the lantern, making the wall flicker. They sat in silence, looking at each other’s eyes.

Then her face started getting close to him. Newt nervously backed off a little, but Tina chased him and kissed him. Stunned, his right hand floating around not sure where to rest. She pushed herself into him, embracing his lips desperately. He put his hand on her jaw eventually, pulling her to respond the kiss.

For what happened to be a good few days—or perhaps hours—or actually it might be just a long minute—they finally broke apart. Tina shied away from his stare, hiding her face to Newt’s chest. Her ear was bright pink—may be the same colour as his ears. He held her into his chest, rubbing his face to her hair.

“Uh, so… you aren’t dating an Auror, then? I heard that—”

“It was only a dinner—no, Newt, I’m not. I did often think about dating a certain magizoologist though,” she let a little embarrassed laugh.

She sneaked a glance at him. “Hold me for tonight, will you?”

He couldn’t help but grin, _she just kissed me,_ nodded, and held her close. Tina rested her face on his neck. She inhaled deeply, and her breathing became more regular.

They lied down to his narrow bed and she continued to snuggle his neck. He never dreamed about lying in his bed with Tina—he thought about kissing her, maybe, a couple of times, but not like this. He was a bit embarrassed but very much delighted to have her locked on his embrace. He stared on her, admiring both her boldness and softness. This once very intense and strong woman opened her vulnerable side to him.

Tina caressed his chest affectionately. “I really don’t mind if you wanna go to sleep without a shirt, Mr. Scamander,” she let out a sleepy giggle.

 


	2. Menagerie Day Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for anyone who left kudos and comments on the last chapter! You made my week a whole lot better. I love you. I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, thank you for my beta reader Leah @letmedownslowly23 <3 she's amazing.

****Tina woke up alone in Newt’s bed. She let out a yawn, her body rolled over to snuggle Newt’s pillow. Sleeping beside him for a night gave her the same effect as two spoonfuls of sleeping draught, she believed.

The small room has Newt’s scent. Tina was lying lazily, bathed in dim sunlight from the bedside window. She inhaled deeply. His scent—Newt’s scent—made her feel safe and relaxed. She looked at the pile of his books that he needed to sign—at first she couldn’t believe that Newt is now a worldwide bestseller writer. But then she remembered how passionate that man is with his creatures, so she changed her mind.

She thought about how three months ago she was furious and feeling so awful after looking at the headlines of four magazines talking about Newt was getting married. Four! She would’ve thought that there was some mistake if only one magazine lifted up the story, but it was four magazines.

She recalled the night before Newt went back to his homeland. She was sitting with her dearest sister Queenie— they were both quite and heartbroken. Queenie, because she missed Jacob and her because Newt was about to leave New York.

“ _Tell me, Queenie… did you read Newt’s mind? Does he have… someone waiting to be..._ ,” she shrugged as her eyes started to get hot, “ _...Mrs Scamander back home?_ ”

Queenie looked at her eyes. Tina can feel her using her legilimency but she didn’t try to close her mind from her sister. Queenie held her hand. “ _Teenie, you don’t have to worry._ ”

“ _You know what I meant. Does he have anyone waiting for him? Someone special in his mind?_ ” she grasped Queenie’s hand. “ _I saw a picture of a very pretty girl in his case—is that his…?_ ”

Tina looked away from Queenie. It seemed like she talked more to herself than to Queenie, “ _It’s okay, I can take it. Better to know it right now, right?_ ”

The fire crackled behind them. The room felt so quiet despite the hustle from a normal New York’s workday evening. “ _Her name is Leta…,_ ” she started.

Queenie hadn’t finished her sentence yet Tina’s eyes started to fill with tears.

“ _No, no, no, Teen, it’s not like— she was his first love, but there’s a lot more of hurt, damaged, and wounded feelings in there,_ ” she gripped Tina’s shoulders, “ _But… she’s still in his life, and that confuses him._ ”

She wiped her eyes. “ _Does he still has any special feelings for her?_ ”

“ _Oh, Teen,_ ” Queenie pulled her sister to a hug. “ _He hasn’t realized it yet, I think, but he kinda likes you. You don’t need to worry about Leta Lestrange or any women._ ”

Tina pushed Queenie and stared at her. “ _Lestrange, you said?_ ”

And then she remembered the lines she read on the cover of magazines three months ago, _NEWT TO WED A NOBLE FAMILY’S DAUGHTER. Newton Scamander, Bachelor No More! Newt Scamander with his fiancée, Leta Lestrange._

_Leta Lestrange? His fiancée?_

It happened all at once. She was devastated, she was enraged, she shouted to Queenie about her forbidden relationship with Jacob, about how her sister said she didn’t need to worry about another woman in Newt’s life.

She wrote an angry letter for Newt, pouring her heart about how she was already distressed enough from her job, and he still got the nerve to play with her feelings? How about his promise, to meet her and give his book in person? _That must’ve meant something, right?_

But the letter was never sent. She realized that—after a night of crying herself out—he might be only thinking of her as a good friend. They never made their relationship exclusive. It was not entirely Newt’s fault. It was maybe her own fault, for overthinking too much and expecting something that wouldn’t happen with him.

That was the day she decided to let him go. Ended the communication so she can move on with her life, with her amazing job. She doesn’t need a Newt Scamander to make her happy. To keep her company. She burned the angry letter she wrote together with the next letter she got from him.

What she didn’t realize was, she drove Queenie away, too. With her tough attitude toward Queenie’s relationship with Jacob.

After a full five minutes thinking about her little sister, she stood up, wiped her eyes, left the concern behind, fixed her hair, and took her wand.

She walked down the stairs and found Newt chopping something in his kitchen. Warmth spread through her body. She lost Queenie— _for a while; she’s okay, she’ll come back,_ she convinced herself—but at least she had Newt for now. For a weekend, before she had to leave for MACUSA, to report her duty.

Tina stared at him and thought about last night. The memory about Newt’s torso still imprinted in her mind. _How in the name of Deliverance Dane did he get that body from? From taking care of his creatures? Does that actually give him good pecs?_

He wasn’t aware of her presence. He looked scruffy, with his sleepy hair uncombed, his sleeves rolled up, and—he turned towards Tina—his shirt only buttoned the middle two from six. She could live like this. Sleeping on his arm, waking up just to find him being adorably sexy in her kitchen. Maybe someday they can get comfortable too… in _their_ kitchen.

“Morning, sleepy head,” she greeted him. “Want me to help you?”

He looked up, his smile in his unshaved jaw grew. “Oh! Morning, Tina!” he came back to focus on his sausages while his left index finger magically stirred the scrambled egg. “I just need to plate these…”

Tina waved her wand to his cupboard, and the plates were approaching, floating around them. Newt flicked his wand and the meal started to arrange itself to the plates. She gestured her hand to the table, and the plates landed gently on it. A kettle floating around, pouring coffee to the cups.

They sat face to face, with Tina’s back toward the window. “Not much,” Newt nervously arranged the cutleries.

“It’s a treat, really, Newt,” she started to munch on her eggs, ”Thank you for making me breakfast.”

He exhaled, a smile broke on his lips. Tina was eyeing him sipping his cup. “You have a lovely house. I would love it very much to have a house on my own someday.” _With you. Our house, Newt._

“My neighbours loathed me,” he told her, swinging a piece of sausage stuck on a fork. “You should hear them talking about the noises they heard from this house.”

“Who produced the most noise?”

Newt was thinking. “I once fostered an injured Griffin,” he answered, and Tina’s eyes were widened. “She was chained by a wealthy, Irish warlock for years. She suffered a severe trauma and it almost… impossible for her to trust human again.”

Tina wasn’t expecting a sad story. She put her sausage down. “Did she recover?”

He didn’t look at her, but he was smiling. “She did, yes. She went back to the wildlife looking very beautiful and very healthy.”

“You have such a big heart and your neighbors are lousy,” she took a little bite from some kind of pancake on her plate. “Hm! What’s this, Newt?”

He looked at her. “Oh, it’s crumpet. Do you like it?”

“Oh, Mr Scamander. It tastes so bad I’m gonna arrest you for this crime,” she grinned, shoving the rest of it to her mouth.

Newt was taken aback with her joke, he raised his eyebrows and smiled sheepishly. He was so adorable when he did that. Tina wanted to run her fingers on his hair, brush back his locks. Suddenly her bitter coffee felt much sweeter.

“It feels good to have some days off, doesn’t it?” The Ministry let them rest and come back on Monday after interrogating them for 48 hours.

Newt swallowed his egg and answered, “It does. Now I can spare some time in my basement to take care of my creatures,” he beamed. “You should see the baby kneazles. They are so playful, very soft and fluffy, and they have this cute little smile that makes you want to just cancel all your appointments and spend the rest of the day snuggled with them, just like you.”

They’ve kissed once, spent the night holding each other, but Tina still blushing from hearing that. She was flattered to hear the compliment. Newt noticed that and he gestured to her plate awkwardly.

“I still have eggs if you want more, Tina.”

“I really adore you, Newt,” she smiled, ignoring Newt’s remark. “You should see yourself when you started talking about your creatures. Your face lights up and suddenly I find myself…,“ Tina lost her voice, embarrassed, and started laughing shakily.

He broke a wide, nervous smile. “Usually people just tell me that I’m annoying,” he stated while glancing at her.

Then she started to really laugh. “You are! You lied to me about having a wand permit when you visited New York! And that’s just one. You want me to go on?”

He was still smiling, his eyes kept following hers. “Did I annoy you since you got here?”

It stopped Tina from laughing. She stared directly into his eyes, clicked her tongue in disbelief and asked him back, “For being really nice while looking so attractive?”

Newt didn’t respond vocally. He was moving uncomfortably on his chair, but he’s smiling, switching glances between her and his plate. Tina could tell he wasn’t very used to being flirted with. It looked like he appreciated all the compliments, though.

After a series of flirty glances at each other, while finishing their breakfast, he stood up, walked around his table and offered his hand to her. “Come on, there is someone I wanted you to meet.”

She took the hand that led her to his basement.

It was a magically expanded room, but Tina didn’t expect it to look so beautiful. His suitcase looked marvellous. His basement? Beyond extraordinary. It was like standing on an opened space building. Stairs were everywhere heading toward the places where the creatures kept. There's a flock of fwoopers— they were all wearing some kind of beak cover— by the window and a herd of mooncalves on a land not far from them. _And… what was that? A lake? No way_.

“Look, Newt, I thought your suitcase was amazing enough, but this? This is magnificent,” she stated, looking at Newt who’s holding her hand. The trees were getting denser and Tina can hear a slight singing bird voice. They walked into some kind of pine forest.

Pine forest inside his basement? Sure. She’ll have to ask him later about this kind of magic. No wonder why the Ministry tried to appoint him as an Auror without him having to do the rigorous exam. Newt might have a little more unusual trick up his sleeves than her.

“Newt, where— “

She gasped. Two huge beautiful creatures emerged from the shadow. They were half horse, half birds, and terrifyingly gorgeous. Their coats gleamed like bronze and silver under the sunlight. She recognized the creatures from Newt’s illustration on his book.

Newt looked like a proud parent showing off their child. “Tina, meet Bobby,” he gestured to the bronze, bigger hippogriff, “and Millie!” he pulled the leather collar from the gray one.  

She was stunned and a bit terrified, she couldn’t turn her eyes from the hippogriffs. Meanwhile, Newt started to rub Bobby’s beak endearingly. Millie joined him, asking for some beak rub. It looked exactly like two puppies competing for affection, except they were 8 foot and 6 inches tall.

“Don’t blink, Tina, and bow to them,” he instructed. “Bobby! Be a good boy!” he said, patting its neck.

Tina did as Newt said before. She tried to maintain her eyes to still on Bobby’s the whole time, while her right leg stayed in a warned position, just to be safe if she needed to run away from there.

Both Bobby and Millie bowed down to her. “Well, that’s not really hard,” Tina sighed nervously while moving slowly toward the hippogriffs.

Newt brought her hand to pat Millie’s beak. “I think I spoiled them too many times, they grew easy on human,” he smiled at her. Millie closed her eyes, enjoying it. Tina let out a little laugh at Newt, whose eyes beaming with pride and delight.

There’s a beat of silence filled with stares before Newt said, “You should try to ride them! Bobby, Bobby c’mon put your wings down,” as he pulled Bobby’s collar.

Tina was too appalled when she finally processed Newt’s words— suddenly Newt lifted her onto Bobby’s wing, and somehow she ended up on his slippery back.

She was about to scream at Newt when he slapped the hippogriff’s hindquarters.

Bobby spread his enormous wings and soared upright. Tina grabbed on his collar very tightly, her eyes shut and she tried not to scream while they were elevating up high.

She was not a fan of flying— she can fly well on her broom, but her broom has a cozy seating and a secure feeling when she was on top of it. She clamped her legs to the hippogriff’s body as they fly to the horizon. She was admiring the shiny coats then, but not so much for now.

It was then they were sailing smoothly through the sky, she felt a bit spark of joy inside her chest. A sense of feeling free washed over her body. Still, she didn’t dare to open her eyes even for one second.

She couldn’t feel her face. The freezing wind numbed it. She was breathless from screaming on the top of her lungs while the hippogriff dived down to land.

Newt was waiting for her on the ground, radiantly beaming. “How does it feel, Tina?”

“I can’t breath,” she said, shivering on the back of the hippogriff. “Help me down, Newt. Please.”

His laugh was full of amusement. He took her hand and caught her when she practically hopped into his arms. He was still laughing, but he didn’t put Tina down. Embarrassed, she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled to his neck. He held her tightly and started spinning in his place. “I’m sorry, Tina, but you have to admit it, it was fun, wasn’t it?”

“This is your idea of fun? Catapulted me off on a hippogriff?” she let out a shuddered laugh.

Tina was starting to jokingly hit Newt when he closed his lips around hers. He didn’t put her legs down, instead, he swayed slowly with her hanging on his body.

“I think—” he said, between the kisses, “Bobby likes you, Tina.”

She muttered an unidentified sound of agreement and continued on fondling his soft lips. Newt traced her bottom lip tentatively. A second later he slipped his tongue to her mouth— Tina can savor the coffee aftertaste that lingered there. As the kiss deepened, she made a mistake by pulling his collar a little too hard— he lost his balance.

Instead of plummeting to the ground, Newt rolled their body, positioning himself between Tina and the ground, put his foot at the right time to support their body weight, and somehow they both collapsed softly to a mattress of moss without any injuries.

He chuckled, his voice sounded so deep and tender. Tina sneaked a glimpse into his enchanting voice— his eyes were closed and relaxed. She can count his freckles. Tempted, she gave his freckles on his cheekbones, his nose, his lips, his jaw, a series of butterfly kisses that made Newt let out a little sigh.

He rolled them over and repositioned himself on top of her. His hair was a mess, and Tina took some time to run her fingers through his tangled locks. Newt stroke her thigh back and forth very gently with the tip of his fingers. It made her shiver, and for a thrilling second Tina saw some kind of hunger in his darkened eyes.

They heard a distant knock when he’s about to close the gap between them—he stopped immediately. Both were listening to the voice, petrified on their position. The muffled knock can be heard again, followed by a soft voice calling, “Newt?”

He stood up almost on an eyewink. Newt helped Tina get on her feet without looking at her eyes, his skin flushed, his lips swollen. He gestured awkwardly to the footpath they passed earlier and started to walk leaving the forest.

Tina didn’t follow him instantly afterwards. She leaned on a tree, catching her breath. Her heart was pounding fast inside her chest. Newt Scamander just stared at her like she’s his prey. That was… unusual.

She got out of the forest after a while. Newt was standing on the top stairs, with Bunty facing him. He glanced at Tina while listened to Bunty. Bunty… she sounded upset with a slight amusement. Her hair looked like it’s been blown away by a strong wind. Tina climbed the stairs while listening to their conversation.

“I know, I forgot about that, I— “

“You know he can’t do his thing if you forget to give him his potion, Newt. You told me that,” Bunty said, her voice soft and calm but firm enough.

Newt looked genuinely sorry. He started to do the weight shifting thing on his leg whenever he felt uncomfortable or cornered. “Yes, I was just... kind of distracted by Bobby and Millie… you know how they are,” he looked directly at Bunty’s eyes as if trying to make some point that he didn’t lie to her.

Bunty sighed. “Yeah,” she nodded, smiling weakly. Tina stopped beside a tank of a greenish creature, not far from where Newt and Bunty stood.

“But thank you, thank you for your help, Bunty,” Newt grabbed her shoulders. “You’ve been really caring with the creatures. I don’t know what would I do if you’re not here, really. And I’m not saying this because you turned down my offer to give you a raise— I am truly glad that you’re here.”

Newt bent over and gave her cheek a little peck. “I might… I might need extra help later today, Bunty, I hope you don’t mind. Now I’m going to check on Poppy’s bandage,” he added. He patted Bunty’s arm and ran downstairs.

Tina could see how Bunty reacted almost the same as her when Newt touched her hair in New York Harbor. Bunty stared at her shoes, her hand ran across her cheek.

“He can be so dense and blind sometimes, doesn’t he?”

Bunty looked over Tina, she smiled. “Miss Goldstein.”

Tina walked toward her. “It’s Tina.”

She breathed a laugh. “Tina. But that’s never going to be your problem! I know that—” she drew a deep breath, “Well, he can’t stop talking about you.”

Tina didn’t know what to say—what should she say, though? _I’m sorry? Thank you?_ Asking her what kind of stuff Newt told Bunty about her? She just stood there awkwardly, feeling a little guilty.

But apparently, Tina’s awkwardness was amusing for Bunty. “ _Distracted by Bobby and Millie…_ oh please, you were snogging in there, weren’t you!”

Tina straightened up her clothes, combed her hair nervously, suddenly aware that her appearance might already give Bunty the answer away. “To his defense… we did play with the hippogriffs.”

There’s so much expression in her face. A bit of sadness, curiosity, amusement, but mostly playful mischief was shown in her eyes. “So… girl to girl, how was it? Was he a good kisser?” she whispered.

“Way better than the other one man I’ve ever kissed, but maybe I can’t give you a better review because I really don’t have enough data.”

She laughed, and Tina felt much relaxed around her. Bunty’s laugh was heard by Newt, and they were both giggling when Newt asked them what was going on from the bottom floor.

“I better help him change Poppy’s dressing,” she told Tina, her smile looked sincere. Tina nodded, she smiled back to her.

“Take care of him, Tina,” Bunty paused a bit when she put her gloves on. “Or I’ll steal him from you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are highly appreciated. Next chapter will be up next week, and it's gonna be a bit explicit (I'm not going full smut yet)! Don't forget to bookmark :)


	3. Tangled Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to Leah for being my best beta reader! Also, there are a few explicit scenes towards the end, so that's a heads up if that kind of stuff might offend you.

He asked her quickly before he lost his courage. “You don’t want to have dinner with me at the Fay Bay… do you?” 

He studied her expression. 

“Is that a place where they serve seafood?” her face lit up. But she looked normal, not surprised, and Newt came to the realization that Tina did not necessarily know where Fay Bay is. 

But that place  _ does _ serve seafood. It’s just like, 100 miles away from them. 

They were sitting on the side of the kelpie pool, watching it swim in the distance with their fingers interlaced together, making them look like a couple of teenagers on a date. The chilling wind swept Tina’s hair away from her face. She was just as stunning as the kelpie. Newt stopped pretending that he wasn’t staring at her in awe half an hour ago.

He was anxious. Should he ask her out to a nice pub in London? Or to the fancy European restaurant downtown? He kept thinking about his nights in Fay Bay, Nortefract. It’s a small wizarding seaside town, and that place was fascinating. Newt was there for three nights, four months ago, sent by the ministry because the residents reported some dragon sightings (false rumour). He was hoping he had someone special to share the alluring view. Hoping he would have Tina to share the experience.

He brought Tina’s hand to his lips and kissed it. She rested her head to his shoulder, her soft lips formed a charming smile. Water splashed around their ankle, simultaneously with the kelpie-generated patterned wave. On her lap lay an oily pack of fish and chips.

_ “What do you want for lunch?”  _ he looked up at her while wiping the dirt and sweat off his face with his arm. Tina just finished taking a bath, smelled as fresh as a water spring and he was so sure that he smelled more like some doxy nest.

She came closer to him, with curiosity in her eyes.  _ “What’s the most British thing I can get around here without troubling you?” _

“I’d gladly have dinner with you, Newt.”

Newt raised his eyebrows as Tina munched the soggy chips. “On a bar… one hundred miles from here?”

She sat up straight, staring right at his eyes. “Where? You’re kidding, Newt!”

The intensity of her stare drove his eyes away. “I was thinking— a little vacation, maybe, because… I’m not sure if we ever will have time after this, this…” he struggled to find the right words, “after you came back from MACUSA, if the war ever started.” 

Unsatisfied and afraid that Tina might take it wrong, he added, “I mean, we do have a lot of time ahead,” he sheepishly smiled, “...to be, um, together, sure, but— the place was so breathtakingly beautiful. Remember that time I told you in one of my letters about dragon sighting?”

“Uh huh,” she nodded, her eyebrows frowned, her thumb was caressing his hand. 

He was a little befuddled. “I longed for you to be there with me.”

Tina stared at Newt with her dark, deep water eyes. He raised his hand to touch her face, effortlessly glide his fingers on the cool, smooth skin. Chirping sounds can be heard in the distance in rhythm with the splashing water on the pillars. A perfect day. Oh well, they could just go to a nice muggle restaurant in the city for a change if she refused.

She placed a light kiss on his bottom lip and said, “Of course, let’s go on a short vacation together, why not?” a wide smile painted on her face.

Their eyes met. He replied to her smile cheekily. “Should we pack up?”

 

***

“Why did they put fluffy feathers on a swimsuit?” 

They strolled lazily on the Fay Bay Waterfront Promenade, with Tina stuck on his side, looking over the shops along the roadside. Newt had informed and let Bunty sleep in his menagerie for the night. To take care of the creatures while they went on a two days-one night vacation. Bunty accepted Newt’s additional sickles for her as she threw a knowing smile to him that made him blush. He brought Pickett and the usual emergency package for animals on his case with them before saying goodbye to Bunty. 

Tina pouted over the said swimsuit. “So much for a fashion swimsuit.”

Newt glanced at his side. Tina still wearing her jet black auror leather coat, looking all dashing and intimidating. He loved it. But she also attracted a lot of uncomfortable glances from the people around them whose clothing were far more lighter, thinner, and colourful.

“Seems like watching an auror walking around in her uniform worries them.”

Tina looked over their back, smiling a little. “An auror can’t have a date with her man, then?” she took her wand out, cast a disguise spell to her body.

Newt was dumbfounded both from her remarks and her transformation.  _ Him. Her man? _ Now she was wearing a sheer dusty blue day dress that changed her overall looks from elegantly intimidating to more soft, charming, and blended in. He looked away, strangely embarrassed. The other time he witnessed her looking very sweet was almost a year ago, when they went to the Blind Pig. 

She stared at him. “You don’t want to change?”

“This is fine,” he answered after he shook his head, smiled and offered her his arm.

“You sure they didn’t stare at me because I’m with  _ the _ Newt Scamander? The most wanted bachelor on earth right now?” she poked fun at him. “But really, I saw a women’s magazine talk about your new status as a celebrity.” 

Newt glanced at her. She smiled widely, her eyes scanning the road around them. He decided not to mention anything about it, he didn’t like the attention he received every time he went to Diagon Alley, after all. He wished he could disapparate from the crowd— he could, but that would be rude. So instead, he smiled awkwardly as he tugged her arm to pull her and placed a kiss on the side of her eyes. 

The evening was lovely. It was sunny, with little clouds above them. A glimmer of bold orange can be seen across the sky as breezy salty air hit their faces. It was crowded. They can see children running around playing with their toy broomsticks. Witches and wizards enjoying a lazy walk on the beach, while a group of young witches giggling behind a massive rock, eyeing another group of young wizards playing Quidditch in the beach. 

Tina grinned at the teenagers. “Do you play, Newt?”

He voiced a laugh. “I played, with my brother and our neighbour in Dorset, yes,” Newt faced her. “Never tried the trials at school, I thought it’ll be too frustrating. Do you, Tina?”

She tightened her grip on his arm and muffled a chuckle. “Oh no, I like to keep my feet on the ground,” she answered, raising her eyebrows. “I’m not good at flying, y’know. I almost failed the flying exam as an Auror,” she told him before laughing.

“So you were like, brilliant in other subjects but you can’t fly?” he grinned.

She hit his arm playfully. “Don’t mock me, Mr Scamander! I'm still mad at you for putting me on top of your hippogriff, you know.”

He gazed at her as the ends of his lips raised up, feeling the relaxed presence from her. She clung to his side, wind in her dress and hair. It felt good to finally be there again, with her accompanying him. Soft warm yellow lights from the sidewalks covered her beautiful smile. 

“Why are you so nice to be around?” she tugged Newt's arm and placed a small kiss on his cheek. She beamed at him as he was some kind of extraordinary dragon. 

“No, I heard with my own ears that I am, apparently, annoying,” he smiled at her, pulling her into a cuddle. 

She broke into a crunchy laugh that made Newt hoped they were alone already so he could kiss that laugh out of her mouth. “Okay, we'll stick to it. Nothing can change my mind,” she grinned.

Newt couldn't be happier. Alone with Tina in Nortefract, hand in hand. It felt surreal if he thought about the recent incident and what would happen next, but he wouldn't be thinking about that too much and tried to enjoy his time with Tina.

“Are you starving yet?” he asked her when they finally approached the bar. There were crowds inside, but still plenty of seats. The house elves snapping their fingers to clean dirty tables. Three toddlers running around laughing in the front of the bar, one of them swinging a wand as their mum tried to catch them.

She stroked his hand. “Kind of. You want to go now?”

“Let’s ask for their backyard seat,” he smiled to her. 

They walked into the bar, requested for the backyard seat, and a house-elf led them to the back. The door opened to an open space in a low cliff, looking over the English Channel. Small fireball floated around the edges. Sea breeze blew strong to their face but not too strong to bother them. The house elf placed them near the cliff with their menu before disapparating.

They sat in silence. They could hear chatters from the tables near them, also from the waves crashing below them. Tina stared down to the bay in awe while throwing happy, giddy glances to Newt. It seemed like she forgot to read the menu she held in front of her since she was already looking over to the crowded beach they passed before. She looked adorable. Her flowy blue dress suited the atmosphere around them. 

“Tina, I brought you your copy,” he told her, conjured a brown package out from his case. She looked at him. Newt put said package between them and moved it across to her.

Her eyebrows raised in a surprised and touched way as she took the package delicately, running her finger on it. She looked over to Newt, her mouth gaped open but she didn’t say a thing.

“I know you’ve read my book,” he started, “but I promised already to give yours in person. I wrapped this a long time ago before the ministry denied my visa,” he stopped, watching Tina’s expression. ”Apparently... I failed to visit you in New York and I kind of hope this little vacation can—“

He looked at Tina and realizing that she had tears on her eyes. 

“Oh no, Tina, are you okay?” he struggled to get up from his seat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to— “

“Did you sign it like the way I asked you to?” she sputtered, radiant smile spread on her face.

Newt gazed at her. He needed a couple of seconds before realizing that Tina was not upset at all. He sat again and smiled awkwardly. “I did.”

A couple minutes spent while Tina smiling and hiccupping at him. She laughed nervously when Newt grinned at her. Tina produced the cutest hiccup he ever heard, cuter than any puffskeins he ever had. She covered his hands with hers and thanked him before the house-elf suddenly apparated beside them, asking them about what meal they would like to choose from the menu.

Newt asked for steamed mussels in white wine while Tina picked a plate of fish pie. Newt requested the house elf to surprise them with the drink. He agreed and vanished.

“I’ve never tried a fish pie before,” Tina smiled, there was a flush of pink on her cheeks. 

Their food came not long after the disappearance of the house elf. He popped back in with all their meals, still hot and smoky, and a bottle of red wine. He arranged the cutlery in front of them before plated their meals and poured the wine. The house elf snapped his fingers and a couple of another fireball appeared near their table. They mumbled their thanks to the house elf.

The food was great, and they truly enjoyed their time together while the tidal waves hit the rocks. Newt let Tina drink his last glass of wine. She was smiling non-stop and laughed at Newt's stories countless times during the meal. After a while, he asked for a panna cotta with berries and a scoop of peach sorbet for their desserts. 

“We can go to the beach tomorrow. Maybe see the sunrise,” Newt told her. “Play with the seawater plimpy. Or see if we can find a hippocampus….”

Tina snickered when he mentioned plimpy and hippocampus. “Okay, Mr Scamander,” she raised her water glass to him.

“Or we can just… sit on the beach and have a sandwich?”

She shook her head, laughing. “No! Let’s look for hippocampus!” her voice raised up.

It made Newt laugh. Tina continued to suggest other magical creatures they might find on that place when the desserts came up to them.

“So… where will we stay for the night, Newt?” she asked as she took a spoonful of her panna cotta, her cheek turned redder than before. 

Newt was about to tell her the view from the small cottage he chose for the night, but her uncontained shyness made him slightly awkward. He smiled and glanced shyly at her. He picked the cottage months before, even though he rented it this afternoon. Actually, he kind of already planned this whole vacation thing during his last visit to Fay Bay. He was looking for a particular plant that can help soothe a dragon's scratch when he saw the rented place. He was enchanted. Thoughts about bringing Tina there for her ( _ their _ ) holiday running across his mind back then. 

Maybe Newt shouldn't say all of that to Tina.

“I’ve rented a small cottage up the hill,” he smiled anxiously to her. 

“Oh,” she stared at him for a moment. “Like, only the two of us on one building?”

“It’s small,” Newt emphasized, “Not big, with only one bedroom, but with this spacious yard around it. But… yes. Only us.”

She raised her eyebrows and her face got darker when she sighed, “You know, you owe me stories about how you got the scars on your body, Newt.”

 

***

“It has stone flooring as well, I hope you don’t mind that.”

She stared at him, already in her previous clothing since they chose to walk to the cottage. “Really? Why would I mind that?”

They stood on the front steps. Tina’s eyes widened once they arrived in front of the cottage. It stood on a cliff, higher than the restaurant but still low enough to hear the crashing waves. Vines covered a big section of its stone walls. Big, beautiful, pearly blocks of stones. Buckets of small flowers placed below the windows. Newt could see the lights from the bay below them, glowing beautifully with dark navy as the background. It’s quieter up there. 

The door opened for them, and Newt let Tina in. He put the lamps on. She still looked pretty surprised but he wouldn’t blame her—both the cottage and the view was absolutely gorgeous. The cottage was small, humble, but really nice and warm, with a stunning look over the bay. Newt couldn’t express his feeling nicely but it was undoubtedly the best evening of his life. He was about to take off his overcoat when Tina ran and threw herself on him. 

“Thanks, Newt. You  _ are _ fantastic,” she whispered to his ears as he pulled her into a hug. She smelled like the sea already.

He loosened up and gazed at her affectionately. Tina bit her lower lips, looking slightly expectant. He stroked her cheek with his thumb for a moment as they stared into each other’s eyes. “No,” he glanced on the cottage, “Thank you for being here, Tina.”

His fingers pulled her jaw into a slow and tender kiss. He broke the kiss after a moment, but Tina chased him. She sighed into his mouth and draped her arms around his neck. Surprised but enjoying it, Newt cupped her small jaw on his hands. Her hands caught his overcoat and after a minute fondling lips she started to tugging it out from his body and threw it carelessly into the sofa. 

Tina let go of the kiss as she hastily tried to unfasten the knot on her coat. She stood there, struggling until Newt held her hand and tried to help her. She looked down and blushed as their eyes met when he stared at her face as he unfastened her buttons one by one. He felt the tension spread around them.

“I… I think I might want to clean up before we go to sleep,” she glanced at him, her hand moved and stopped his working hands.

She smiled back as he smiled at her, letting go of her button. Tina bit her lip and moved to the bathroom.

He stood there, watching her while unsure about what should he do later. His heart rate grew faster. She will expect him to kiss her again, won’t she? He took off his jacket and his bowtie. Or should he wait for her to make the first move? He put his waistcoat down and started to unbutton his shirt. Where to wait, the sofa or the bed? 

After putting Pickett down to his case, he took his notebook and sit on the working desk beside the bed. He tried to search notes from during his stay on Fay Bay. He remembered that there was a small quiet beach he found while looking for turtles. Might be good for tomorrow's date. He tried to look up for the name of the beach and while he did write  _ Watch turtle at dawn on a hidden beach behind a very steep huge rock that looks like a nose _ on his note, no beach name mentioned. He struggled to remember where the said huge rock took place.

Suddenly a pair of soft lips touched his shoulder, letting Newt know that Tina was behind him. She took off his unbuttoned shirt quietly and placed it on the table. Her fingers lightly traced his scars down his spine, sending goosebumps along his arms. She started a series of kisses behind his neck, forcing him to surrender and put his book down. 

He turned his head and found her in her undergarment. A simple white thin linen covered her curve while flaunting tender skin and tight stomach. Puzzled but curious, Newt stood up and took Tina’s hand that guided him to the bed. She moved closer to the lamp beside her and shut it out with a wave of her hand. The room now was dimly lit from the lamp near the working desk.

The dim light let her body curves stood bolder. He dared to look on her eyes. She just sat beside him, not looking at him. Intrigued and trying to understand Tina's intention, Newt moved closer and placed his hand on her jaw, his lips creeping on her neck, placing an experimental kiss. 

He watched how Tina bit and licked her lips nervously while letting out a shaky breath. It awakened desires inside his chest. Slowly Newt traced her jaw with his lips, still watching every response Tina gave from his touch. Long fingers running on his body, following the line of his jaw, his neck, his chest, his abs… he had to grab her wrist when she let it go down farther. 

They shared a breathy pause between them before Newt pulled her hand up and Tina became more open to him. With trembling lips and closed eyes, she pushed her lips to cover his, while her free hand holding onto Newt’s hair, tugging it hard enough to made him growl.

She pulled him until he was lying beside her, without breaking their kiss. Their legs entangled together, pulling each other as close as they can. It’s getting hotter, the air between them. Newt touched her bare waist and she shivered as if the touch was too cold for her. They deepened the kiss until it was more of teeth and tongue than lips between them until his lips went swollen. 

He pulled himself from Tina, trying to breathe while she snuck her face to his jaw, rubbing her face in his stubbles and leaving bite marks there. Pain and pleasure mix together in a way Newt never felt. A guttural growl escaped from his mouth while she sucked on his skin. He reciprocated by filling her exposed shoulder with kisses. Tina gasped for air, her whole body trembled. Once again, her hand move down Newt’s body, touching every hard curve of him, moving down below his stomach, tracing the soft hair beneath with the tip of her fingers until he stopped her again. 

She whimpered as he brought her hand to his cheek, rubbing his nose into it. Tina interlaced their fingers and pulled his hand into a kiss. Newt touched her swollen lips, grazing his thumb over them as she started to kiss his fingers suggestively. She held his hand, gave it heated kisses, and licked his finger tentatively. Newt stared at her, amazed at how a simple lick on his finger sent electricity down to his body. He put another finger to her mouth, which she licked messily. Tina stared at his eyes, her gaze was hungry and needing while she sucked his two fingers down. He grasped her intention.

“Not now, Tina,” his voice sounded rough and raspy. He untangled his hand from her. “We need to stop,” he breathed, his pulse running fast inside his chest, “Before this goes further.”

“No, let’s go further,” she purred into a clean part of his neck she hadn’t marked before.

He almost lost his control when she sucked on a skin right below his ear. He let out a dark, pleased growl from his throat that he never heard before, rolled over to be on her top and at this point Newt didn’t care if he accidentally poked her. There was no need to be shy anymore. 

Tina tangled her legs around him, clutched herself tightly onto Newt as he tasted her neck, working it down lower and lower to her collarbone. Tina let out a soft grunt as he nibbled the skin on it.  

He grazed his hand beside one of her breasts while his eyes looked up, hovering around her face, paying attention to her expression details.

He kept his eyes on her. “May I?”

Tina let out a shuddered sigh while nodding slowly. 

“Newt, please,” she breathed harshly on him. Both her hand gripped his hair gently, playing with it as she gazed down to him. 

Newt moved his hand gently and he touched her with such delicacy, tracing her thin brassiere down to her ribs. He straightened his body so he could use both his hands on her— one to cup her left breasts and give it a little experimental squeeze, and one to loosen up the lace on the side of her body.

His hands moved instinctively, while his eyes fixated on Tina’s face, waiting for her response. Newt played out his touch, gave her nipple a little pinch, leaving her moaning his name. He enjoyed listening to her aroused voices, but more so he can provide her pleasure, rather than for his own.

The laces on her side are disentangled and he almost ripped the fabric getting her out of it. Bare and exposed under his sight, Newt fondled her breasts as he bent down and whispered into her ear, “My Tina. My beautiful, beautiful Tina.”

He placed a soft kiss into her cheek while both of his thumbs grazed repeatedly on her nipples. She mewled and tried to capture Newt’s lips with her mouth but she was too late. He was already giving the beauty marks on her breasts some attention. Tina shivered with such anticipation as he placed kisses there.  

She whimpered and held the back of his head to keep him steady as he went lower and tasted the center of one of her breasts. Newt kept his attention on what touch made her claw his skin, on what made her curve her spine, on what made her let an open gasp— 

Tina let out a muffled scream as he kept tasting her skin, her sweat. “Oh! Newt, Newt, Newt! Enough,“ she pleaded. 

He looked up immediately, a little worried from the sudden demand, “Am I hurting you?”

She shivered a laugh, and pull his head into a hug to her chest. “No, Newt, that was great, I just— I can’t take it anymore.”

“Has anyone ever touched you like that before?” he purred into the dip between her collarbones, nuzzled there affectionately. His hands gave one last squeeze to her breasts. He kind of hoped she would say no, but he had no problem if there was somebody before him. After all, Tina’s an attractive woman. 

They could hear the rumble from the wave travelled to the shore. She played with his hair gently, running fingers to his scalp. “No. Have you ever?”

He moved his body weight and kissed her. A slow, affectionate kiss, tasting the sweetness in her lips. “I haven’t done any of that before,” he whispered in her lips. 

“Did you enjoy it?” Newt rolled over to her side and enveloped Tina’s body with his. Her breath grew steadier as he caressed the warm skin on her back.

Newt felt a nod in his chest. “We should try it again,” she sighed, “you didn’t let me touch you.”

He combed her dishevelled hair into its place and planted a kiss. “Another time,” he muttered to her ear. 

Tina broke the silence after they lay quietly for some minutes. “Don’t leave my side, Newt. Don’t— not again,” she whispered, her eyes scanning his face. The voice coming out of her mouth sounded fragile and delicate. 

The back of his hand ran across her cheek, down to her shoulder. “I am not,” he soothed her down, “and I won’t.”

“I don’t want to be alone,” her voice broke.

Newt cradled her closer. “I won’t let you,” he hushed. 

A breeze of wind escaped from their window. Waves rumbled chasing after each other. Newt covered their bodies with the blanket and cast a light beside her to warm up the room. He spent the rest of the night admiring Tina, enjoying the feeling of her on his skin, before drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter! Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are very much appreciated <3 The next chapter will contain more graphic sexual interaction, btw *winks*


	4. Morning Delight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update, the holiday made me to. I'll try my best to post the next chapter on time!  
> Also, a warning: literally half of this chapter is straight up SMUUUUUT. This fic is now graduated to rated E!

 

Tina felt a movement behind her. A second later, she could feel his lips planting kisses along her bare spine. A sigh escaped when the kiss reached behind her belly button. But then it stopped so suddenly when she needed more of it.

“Newt, what are you doing?” she turned her body to him with her eyes unopened. “Come here, hold me.”

A hand brushed her hair and a kiss planted to her forehead. A soft blanket covered her body. “I need to work on a sketch for some minutes. Please, enjoy your sleep, Tina.”

“But we’re on a vacation! You’re not supposed to work!” she protested, pulling Newt by his hand. 

Tina opened her eyes, the room still dark and she was unable to look at Newt very well. She pushed her body into him and placed a kiss on his stomach, the sides of his stomach, chest, shoulders and finally his mouth.

He returned the kiss, tongue swiping against her lips, but not for so long. Newt mumbled a laugh. He pushed her hair away and whispered lightly on her ears, “My Tina. So, so demanding.”

Still closing her eyes, she shivered as he drew patterns on her low back. “You’re annoying. Get back to bed and hold me, Newt.”

“But you like that about me,” he whispered a hoarse tone into her ear. It sent a tingle below her stomach. Oh, sometimes she hated him so much.  

A rub on her arm and Tina felt him slipping back beside her. She opened her eyes. There he was, with his messy hair and stubbles on his face. He smelled like homemade holiday cookies— sweet and warm. She was surprised at first. She expected something more earthy.

“I like all the things about you,” she said to his jaw, planting a kiss there. 

Newt put his arms around her. It’s amazing, the feeling of their bare skin touching. His warmer body heat also helped her to feel more comfortable sleeping only on her brief. She rubbed her legs on Newt’s and felt textured warm skin. He must’ve taken the trousers off last night and slept in his underwear too.

A faint line of yellow sunlight made its way through the window. Newt glanced at her. The scarred, warm hand of his, brushed the hair off her face and stroked her cheek so tenderly. They lay like that for a couple of minutes, with his body enveloped hers, her hair on his face, their legs tangled, enjoying the warmth of each other. Experiencing each other’s breath. 

She remembered the lonely nights she spent when Queenie was mad at her and decided to go to Jacob’s. She was longing for comfort. Hungry for a touch. She was afraid that after spending these nights together with Newt, she will get addicted. Desiring constant affection from him, despite their distance.

Tina pulled herself out of him. He opened his eyes and they shared a gaze before his lips landed on her forehead.

“I hate the thought of leaving you tomorrow night. Also, I’m going to spend times alone in my apartment,” she breathed out as her fingers ran across his hair. 

“Do you promise to keep writing to me,” Newt held her moving hand, “even if there’s an article saying that I’m marrying someone else?”

She stared at his frowned face. “Why is it sound like something that would eventually happen again?”

Newt moved awkwardly. He cleared his throat before responded to Tina’s question, “No, I mean… please at least inform me first,” he stroked her arm, “because I might not even know if I’m marrying a witch named Wanda.”

Silence. Tina’s hand playing with his stubbles, she was enjoying the rough feeling on the back of her hand. But she was not looking at Newt. Tina avoided his eyes, unsure about how to talk about the things on the back of her mind.  _ Are they exclusive now? In a relationship? Is it wrong to ask him about this right now? _ Because Tina’s aware that they will spend times away from each other, separated by an ocean.  _ Is it fair for him if she hopes for a long distance relationship? _

“We are… we are together now, aren’t we?” his eyes scanned her face. “I meant, it would be impolite for me to spent two nights together with you and… um, not making us—no, that's wrong—what I tried to say is— ” 

He paused, inhaled a sharp breath, and said quietly, “I want to be with you, Tina. If you read me marrying someone else besides...,” he lost his voice as he smiled shyly before continuing, “I can assure you that it’s a rumour.”

Wave crashing on the rocks. Sharp breaths. Heartbeats. A smile. A frown.

“Are you sure? You want to be with a girl living 3,500 miles from you?” she whispered. After weeks alone in New York thinking that Newt was about to marry his childhood love, that maybe Newt was not interested in a long distance relationship, and the fact that she was blindly in love with him, Tina was still not assured that Newt really wanted to be with her. 

His eyes stared directly at hers as his hand comb her bangs. Tina remembered the first time they shared lingering gazes that made her heart beating rapidly as he touched a strand of her hair. Slowly, he shifted his weight to his elbows. The greenish eyes of his traced her face even slower, just like how the tip of his fingers moved across her face and her neck.

Now his head was just a fraction away from hers, their breath met in the middle. When he parted her lips with his tongue, her heartbeat elevated as if it was their first kiss. Emotion washed over her body, anticipation filled her chest. There’s much more affection from his language as if he had desired her for a long time. She nervously answered him and he cupped his hand on her cheek. 

“I have been thinking about you everyday for a year,” he said softly as they parted. “I will do anything to make it work, Tina.”

He gently pulled her into a second kiss. A third. A fourth. By the fifth, the heat between them was already high and she lost herself to his kisses. She felt open, free, desiring, as his hand started to roam on her body. His lips on her neck, fingers idly stroking her nipple, his legs shifting, all his hard parts brushed on her soft body— 

Everything was tingling. Her body shivered from such an experience. She pressed her legs together from all the sensation coming as he tasted her breasts. Her thin underwear did nothing to hinder the heat emanating from his body, instead, it made her disturbingly aware that she’s drenched. She pulled his lips to her mouth, drinking him like she’s never done before, tasting and savouring his sweetness.

Her hand pulled his sinuous locks and tilted his head to bite his neck. A moan escaped his mouth, his hand gave her bottom an appreciative squeeze as it trailed along her back. She pulled him into a sitting position, facing each other as her tongue kept tasting his skin dauntlessly. He buried his head on her shoulder, panting, his breath racing as he toyed with her breasts. 

Eventually, the scorching heat between her legs demanded more attention, and Tina climbed on top of Newt’s lap mindlessly. It took a second for her to wrap her legs around his waist, positioning her heated core into his hardness. His eyes widen, his skin flushed as she started to rock her hip and kissed him.

He froze.  _ Shit, did I hurt him? _

She pulled herself from him immediately. “Newt? Did I hurt you? Did I sit on the wrong place?”

He was petrified on his position whilst panting. His thumb traced her bottom lip. “No, Tina, but if you do that again…,” he swallowed and drew a long breath, “I might want to go much further.”

Tina stared at him, her cheek felt hotter when understanding washed over her. To be honest, she wanted to jump right back to his lap and grind on him until she lost herself but it dawned on her that  _ he _ might not be ready yet. 

“What if you touched me?” she said.

He looked up to her. “Wh… what?”

She covered his hand, “Touch me…,” brought their hands inside her damp underwear, “here,” she whispered.

Newt took a sharp intake of breath as she glided his finger inside her folds. “You’re wet,” he gasped. Tina shivered as she felt his skin massaging between her folds. She's been dreaming about him touching her like this for months.

With her chest going up and down hastily, she pushed him even deeper. Her hand showed his hand her nerves bundle and her opening, and it didn’t take much time for Newt to teased her sensitive spots on his own. As she started to whimper, he stopped and licked his fingers. Tina was about to protest when he got up and moved.

But he didn’t go, Newt positioned himself to cradle her from behind and made her sit between his legs. Before she can say anything, he tilted her head behind and put his mouth on her neck. She threw her head on his shoulder as he cupped her breast and crept his way between her legs. 

“Take this off,” he demanded, whispering hoarsely into her ear, tugging her briefs down. Tina lifted up her body so she could push and kick her underwear away. 

Exposed under his gaze, her eyes fluttered close and slowly she widened the gap between her legs, giving him more access and more view into her wet, needing core. 

“Sweetheart, you're exquisite,” he purred, squeezed her breast and circling around her opening, feeling her slickness and spreading her moisture. Her whole body shivered with need every time his lips and hands touched her more than just right. Pleasure travelled lightspeed through her body. She lifted her shaky hand up and grabbed his hair as his teeth grazed behind her ear.

“Newt! Yes, stay there!” she almost shouted while Newt circled around her clit. Tina struggled to breathe when his fingers toyed with her breast, massaging her inner folds, and his lips sucked the crook of her neck. The sensation was incredibly powerful it rocked her whole body. 

Newt was breathing heavily, his head rested on her shoulder as he lifted her knee and spread her legs even wider. She's never been so exposed before and the fact that she knew Newt can clearly see her dripping for him aroused her even more. He dipped his finger inside her gently, and it slid in so easily. He pumped his finger inside, took it out, and slide all the wetness upwards to her clit. Whimpering, Tina pulled his head and caught his mouth to a heated, sloppy kiss. She moaned loudly into his mouth as he tried to put a second finger inside her. Her walls felt a bit tight around him but she managed to sink down to his fingers. 

He curled his fingers inside her. “Shh. Relax, sweetheart. Breathe,” he gently pumping them into her, loosened her up. His other hand spread her folds, rubbing her so sweetly. 

Her whole body was shaking, and she no longer could control herself. His fingers moved faster hitting her inner walls and Tina can feel the building warm, powerful ticklish feeling below her stomach. She shouted his name repeatedly. Her whole body shivered convulsively; she tried to pull his hands off her but he won’t let them go. Endless pleasure ran across her body. She screamed. She sobbed. She cursed. 

As her body about to burst, Newt bit her neck and sucked it. Suddenly her vision went blindingly white and her world shattered around her. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Tina went boneless as Newt slid his fingers upward for the last time. She threw her head back to his shoulder, losing all her strength, but also feeling the most extraordinary pleasure she ever had.

Newt put her down to the bed, she could see his proud smirk across his face. He planted kisses on her forehead, her eyes and her nose while she was still panting. She squeezed her legs tightly, her body curved to the side into a fetus position. 

Her lonely nights with her fingers and Newt on her thoughts were nothing compared to what she had just experienced.

“I… I enjoy touching you like that and listen to you. Do you like it?”

She looked at him, her body still boneless. “That was great, Newt. How did you manage to do that? I can’t even orgasm from several times touching myself.”

“I listened to your response carefully, and that was that. You were pretty loud, my darling Tina,” she can hear him almost laughing on his words. A kiss landed on top of her head, “I’m learning. Next time tell me how do you touch yourself, will you?”

It was hard for her to focused because he was planting kisses along her sensitive body. “Tell me, Newt, do you pleasure yourself?”

There’s a pause before he answered, “Yes. A couple of times, months ago. Haven’t think about it again since I… basically I abused the law and forced the ministry to give me an international travel permit five times,” he smiled shyly. 

“Did you… did you ever think about me?” she asked him, hoping that she’s not alone on her sexual urges. Tina faced him, she’s regaining her strength. 

He glanced to her body, his fingers running across her skin before stopping to squeeze her breast. His hungry gaze lingered there before he looked at her and nodded.

She moved towards him. “Let me pleasure you, then. Let me touch you,” she whispered seductively on his ear. Tina took his hands, placed them on her breasts and showed his hands to massage them.

“It’s not fair, you see, since I'm already naked and you’re still covering yourself,” she cupped his hard bulge and it drew a low grunt from him.

They stumbled as she took off his underwear hurriedly. She can feel herself longing for him between her legs as she circled him. His hand did wonder to her; she can't stop thinking how it would feel to have him inside her. 

He softly shouted her name as she started to pump him on her hand. He felt hot and heavy. She looked at his proportionate size and thought about rubbing it on the place she wanted him the most. 

Oh, she's wet already. 

“You don't have to,” he grunted. His eyes looked darker than before as he glanced to her. 

She spit on her hand, lubricated him, and continued to touch him. “But I wanted to. Last night you said next time, and now is next time.”

Now after she made her touch slick, he started to give himself up. His eyes rolled back, his head rested on her shoulder, biting a patch of her skin. His rough stubbles felt good on her body. She held his head with her other hand as she kept pumping on him.

This is her first time touching someone too. She might be inexperienced but she's not innocent. Queenie's magazines and novels, while she's sure not particularly accurate, gave her some idea of how to please a man.

He whimpered under her touch, and it excited her. She tried her best to repeat the movements that released moans from him. She captured his gaping mouth and tasted him.

_ “Tinaaaaaa,” _ he hissed raspily through his teeth as she left his mouth and put some attention on his neck.

“Does this feel good?” she bit his shoulder. 

He responded by letting out a deep cry. “Don't… don't stop, I'm almost there.”

Newt Scamander, hot and heavy in her hand, gasping through every pump. His scarred yet perfect torso glistened with sweat—he looked absolutely sexy whimpering with his menacing eyes gazed at her, something she never saw before from the polite, shy, and gentle side of him.

And he's  _ hers _ . 

Decided that she couldn't hold back any longer, she sat on his thigh, ground herself desperately against him while her hand working on him. “Do you want me to make you come?”

His body jerked and his eyes locked on hers. “Please,” he pleaded. 

She got up, pushed him to bed, and moved lower to circle her tongue around his head. 

“ _ Fuck! _ Tina, what do you—”

He growled, long and low, his breath rattled. That was the first time she heard him cursed. It sounded very un-Newt, but she was delightfully pleased to witness him losing his control. 

She tried to devour his entire length unsuccessfully. But she was persistent, grabbing him by his thighs, she kept sucking and licking until she almost didn’t realize that he reached his climax—

Until he thrust himself deeper into her mouth, his release hit her throat, and Tina was taken aback by how strong it tasted. But she managed to swallow it all and licked him clean. She looked up and smiled proudly at him.

“Did I—did I just came inside—” he gestured to her face without looking directly at her. 

She smiled and nodded, moving her body to lie on his shoulder. Her eyes stared on his moving chest. “I feel sexy doing that.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “You already incredibly sexy,” he told her, holding her tightly on his embrace. 

The curtain glowed under the sunlight. She didn’t actually realize that the room was already lit up by the escaped lights from the ventilation. “Remember yesterday, you said we could see the sunrise today if we wanted?” she giggled.

His face broke into a smirk and he answered shyly, “I couldn’t resist you this morning. You looked incredibly… ravishing.”

“And you looked luscious,” she told him giddily as they cuddled into each other. 

He chuckled at her and nuzzled playfully on her chest. It tickled and she began to laughing, holding Newt’s head on her chest and let it go when he started giving her breasts butterfly kisses.

“Stop it!” she laughed. “You know, we should clean ourselves now.”

Newt raised his head from her chest area. “Let's just shower together, it'll take shorter time,” he suggested.

“You know damn well we will take a much longer time if we tried to shower together,” a grin passed her face. 

_ Or so she hoped. _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope you like this chapter. I swear I'll bring more stories and fluff on the next one! Thank you for reading.  
> Kudos and comments are like butter and bread for me, they're giving me life and made me happy. Bookmark for more chapters in the future!


	5. A Living Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO! Thank you for all your comments and support! I'm sorry it took me a long time to update this fic. Blocks are not fun to experience. I tried my best to post this fic after I felt pretty satisfied with it. Cheers for waiting so patiently! Please enjoy <3  
> EDIT: Greatest gratitute for  newtshairdryer  for helping me edit & proofread this chapter!!

Turned out, she was right.

Both Newt and Tina couldn’t keep their hands off each other so they decided to… _keep their hands on each other._ So there he was, feasting on Tina, whose back was leaning on the fogged sink mirror.

Thundering tidal waves moved angrily below them, the birds sang in front of the opened window, and hot water hit the shower floor, but Newt didn’t hear any of it. He was focused on listening to Tina’s response as he wrapped her thighs around his neck.

Their bathroom was decently spacious for two people. The big window beside the tub opened to the cliff and the sea green horizon. A vine was beautifully placed beside them. The smell of rainforest and honey mixed with salt water. The whole atmosphere just screamed _honeymoon_ to Newt as he opened the door and he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassment towards Tina.

 _But their whole vacation_ does _feel like a honeymoon vacation._ At least for him.

He was very nervous and self-conscious before. He made himself focused only on how to get Tina feeling good while remembering a conversation he hoped he hadn’t listened to once, between Theseus and his mates.

Newt was 15 and Theseus was 23. It was a Christmas’ eve at Theseus’s flat in London and they came over for dinner. Past midnight he went to the loo and one of Theseus’s friends, drunk and loud from firewhisky, was bragging about some intimate moments he had shared with a girl. Theseus cut him short and gave him a detailed, graphic suggestion during Newt’s walk to his room.

Never in his life had he thought that Theseus actually produced a piece of actual useful information about women.

_Never in his life had he thought that he would actually use that information._

Over the past 29 years of his life Newt never really thought about being sexually active. He did feel the attraction to Leta during his time in his sixth year at Hogwarts. But it was gone, consumed by time, and he never felt anything special towards his co-workers or his friends except some fleeting attraction to strangers. Two years ago he told his co-worker, who had been asking, that no he’s never been with a woman before ( _“You’ve spent time with dragons, but not a woman?”_ ). Then the next weekend they brought Newt a call girl that he was never interested in and had never actually interacted with. The call girl ended up spending the night with his co-worker.

It changed after he started to exchange letters with Tina.

He was very aware that Tina was attractive. He couldn’t stop staring at her smile. He had fancied her since their time in New York but spending time knowing her from her letters and talking to her developed his feeling into something more. Some sleepless nights and desires of lingering touches.

Last night he was very self-conscious. He was nervous about what to do with Tina but then his body took over after they locked lips; though he still made sure to appear controlled in front of her. He gave his best to love Tina but he didn't give himself away.

This morning… he let it go.

Newt saw how much Tina allowed herself to be vulnerable around him and how much she trusted Newt when she lost control. So he let his body enjoy Tina's touch and lose himself in front of her.

And that opened him to the world he closed himself from before, his sexuality, _their_ sexuality _;_ and he was very eager to learn all about it and explore the possibilities.

Newt was on his knees. He teased Tina cruelly, planting kisses inside her thighs without touching her heated core at all, until she begged, begged and angrily snapped at him for it.

Her scent aroused him even more and he spread her open to admire her, to learn about her, to taste her. She was soaked; needy and desperately longing for his touch. She wanted him...she _needed_ him.

She was _exquisite_. He let her know that again— for the second time.

As his tongue caressed her and his lips whispered to here he paid attention to her moans, her exclamations, her hand tugging his hair, her nails digging his neck, her body shaking— all while keeping her on his mouth, securing her thighs over his shoulders. Newt fed on her until time felt like an abstract concept.

He gasped for air and two fingers disappeared inside her, stealing her voice away. His hand moved in unison with her body; swift and solid. She cried in pleasure as he filled her, embraced her, and finally— shattered her.

* * *

 

“Let's go shopping for you,” he told her as she stumbled on his shirt, cleaning her clothes with her wand. “I’ll get you something more practical to wear on a beach.”

She smiled, not looking at him. Her hand still working on her clothes. “You don’t need to, Newt. I’ll put a disguise spell on like yesterday.”

He stared at her clumsily moving her hands between her clothes. It was almost noon and they were tidying their luggage up; the sun was high up from the horizon. Newt did his part carelessly because he felt like he was not willing to go back to London yet. For a split moment he thought about leaving his ministry life behind, ignoring his responsibilities and the upcoming war, and moving to Nortefract permanently.

And somehow managing to bring Tina with him.

“It’s because I wanted to and because you’ve been wearing that for two weeks,” he moved closer to her. “Let me help— here.”

Newt smiled and took the piece of fabric from her hands. He held it out as she scourgified it and cleaned it out. They did this to all of her clothing pieces. It looked clean and smelled normal like how a piece of fabric should smell… but it didn’t feel fresh. Tina sniffed it and then sighed.

“Yes, I’ve been doing this for two weeks,” she said, folding her shirt.

“You can use my clothes when we go shopping; just sprinkle some disguise spell on top of it if you’re not comfortable with it,” he told her, his eyes fixated on her. “I’ve packed you some. You even look better than me in my shirt.”

Tina bit her lip and the edges of her mouth went up. He could see her becoming amused. “Should I started wearing your clothes more often, Newt? Stealing your shirt, letting you walk around only in your briefs?” she glanced down his body.

He put his arm around her and softly said, “If that implies that I get to spend more times with you, then the answer is a hard yes.”

She felt so soft and fresh under his touch— she smelled better than anything. It didn’t take long for Newt to lazily nuzzle his nose into her neck and her honey-scented skin.

Tina laughed, her hand holding his hand. “It tickles! Newt, stop!” she shouted giddily as he started to plant butterfly kisses on her cheek. Her laugh excited him. Many years had passed since he heard that kind of laugh and he held her tight in his arm, securing her into sloppy kisses on the side of her cheeks. They did not stop laughing until Newt pushed her onto the bed and kissed her mouth.

For some minutes, they heard nothing except the sound of crashing waves and their merging breaths— everything felt perfect.

“Newt,” she sighed with a soft _enough_ tone. Her hand closed on top of his hand that had been running across the side of her body and caressing her bare skin underneath.

He gazed back at her, clearly embarrassed after he realised her tone. He smiled sheepishly as he removed himself from her. “Right,” he said as he sat up, “Sorry, I was distracted,” he added.

She laughed lightheartedly and that was one of the best sounds Newt had ever heard. If only they could stay together for a longer time, but they couldn’t. So he moved back to their goods.

Tina settled behind him and watched him folding up her clothes with a flick of his wand.

Her fingers traced lightly down his bare back. “Newt, I know I've asked you about this before, but how did you get these scars?”

He could feel the hesitation in her voice. Newt turned his head, stopping her hand on his shoulder.

“I have a lot of answers for that question. Which one?”

Tina looked at him; dilemma was all over her face. Newt smiled at her, encouraging her, letting her know that it's okay to ask about his past.

“Let's start with the biggest one, behind your stomach,” she said. She touched the damaged skin tissue gently. Newt could feel very little from that part of his body; mainly because the nerve endings were damaged quite badly despite how much dittany they used on him.

Newt glanced at her and turned his body around to meet her. “It was from quite a long time ago,” he told her. “The ministry assigned me to work on a program; they basically asked me to prepare dragons as a secret weapon for the war.”

“That must have been awful… using magical creatures for the war?”

He nodded slowly. “It was, and I’m not proud of it. They expected us to command a pack of Ukranian Ironbellies. To catch them and smuggle them— to train them. I was furious but I eventually did half of the program. I lured the alpha and caught the entire pack. Everything was great until we started to train them and my stupid partner at that time tried to punish the alpha as part of his training.

“So after some time, the alpha broke free and caused a little battlefield of our own because it led the entire pack to attack us. They tried to burn us, to eat us. Well— not _us_ , actually, _them._ My group,” he looked away from her. His eyes were dark, his voice hollow. “The Ironbellies did not attack me at all but also did not listen to me. I got that scar from protecting my mates that were about to be barbecued.”

He stopped, his voice hanging. The edges of his mouth went up but his brows furrowed. Tina hugged him from behind.

Newt turned his head to the side where Tina’s head was resting. “Casualties: three dead dragons, one wizard, and we’re all injured. The rest of the pack, only two of them, fled away. The ministry cancelled the program.”

A heartbeat.

He continued, but his voice was full of misery and regret. “I lured them into their death. The dragons,” he glanced at her. “I resent myself for that, you should know.”

She kissed his temple. “It’s okay, Newt; you need to forgive yourself. Also, it has been like… I don’t know, around ten years?”

“Nine. Nineteen sixteen,” he smiled. “How old were you?”

“Fifteen, at the peak of my Ilvermorny years,” she scoffed. “No, not really,” she added. “Queenie was the popular one.”

They both became silent at the mention of Queenie’s name. Her hug went loose and Newt turned his body around. Tina smiled hesitantly to him and her gaze drifted down in seconds. He pulled her into another hug; they sat quietly, caressing each other’s backs.

“This weekend feels like cheating,” she sighed on his shoulder, her arm held him closer. “But I keep telling myself that we deserve it.”

Tina turned her head to him, a soft smile grew on her face. Her hair was still damp from the shower and Newt remembered the first time he saw her smiling at him. He was looking for Dougal, desperate for any help he could find.

It was not the same smile but he was still unable to stop looking at her.

“You deserved it, Tina.” He swept her hair off her face. “We deserved it. At least after what happened and was about to happen.”

* * *

 

They strolled in front of the stores with Tina on his arm. She was wearing a lovely blue blouse and a white skirt they just bought. Or… was it a lovely blouse? Or was Tina just looking lovely? Newt wasn’t exactly sure. He thought she looked like a million occamy eggs; pretty and shiny.

Newt left the cottage with a very heavy feeling on his chest but they both managed to enjoy their last minutes on the stunning backyard, listening to the charming sound of screaming seagulls. Dreading thoughts filled his mind; back to Hogwarts tomorrow— to the ministry; leaving the quiet seaside life.

Determined to make the best of their precious last hours on Fay Bay, Newt did take Tina to a small witch boutique near the ice cream store. They bought three pairs of clothing and Tina had already put the first pair on. The lady who helped Tina with her clothes asked Newt if anyone ever told him that he looked like _“that young good-looking bloke from the magazine who travels around the world with some magical pets”_ . Tina almost broke out in a laugh but she quickly changed it into an exaggerated cough. He went into panic mode for a split second and said “ _no”_ way too fast and way too loud.

The middle-aged lady didn’t actually figure it out. She kept saying something like, _“You do look like him, dear!”_ , or _“You both have the same hair, I think!”_ , and finally, just a second after Newt considered telling her the truth, she pulled out a copy of Witch Weekly that featured him on the cover. He had goosebumps thinking about the stupid photoshoot he did for that magazine.

“No, but yes I think he does look like me,” he said as he paid her with galleons. He glanced at Tina whose face was smiling brightly as she looked at the magazine’s cover. “Except he looks darker… and more handsome than me.”

He walked out from the store quickly with Tina strolling behind him, giggling.

“You looked like a boiled shrimp,” she said.

Pickett was back in his pocket with its tiny head peeking out and enjoying the windy promenade. They were both starving so they bought a package of food and snacks and stuffed it in Newt’s case. Tina stared at the various foods with longing as she asked him why they didn’t eat at the bar. He excitedly told her that he had the perfect place to enjoy their gratuitous lunch.

“That lighthouse— I used to sit and wait for the sight of the dragon on top of it,” he pointed to the tall building on top of some huge rocks. “It’s abandoned… they don’t use that one anymore.”

So there they were; on the sand walking barefoot with the salty wind on their face, heading to that particular place and eventually climbing the steep steps.

“Newt, wait. I’m not used to all these steps,” she told him as they climbed the rocks. “Beaches in America are not like this.”

“Not even the surroundings in Ilvermorny?” he grabbed her hand.

Tina thought about it for a second and answered, “Nah.”

He helped her and pulled her up to the last step. They both staggered as she bumped into his body and she laughed as he caught her, looked at him, and the memory of them in the MACUSA’s death cell suddenly hit him. It felt surreal knowing that today they were together about to have lunch on a beach.

“Come on Newt, I’m starving!” she exclaimed. Her face beamed under the sunlight as Tina marched to the lighthouse with her skirt flowing behind her.

Newt smiled. Tina… _his Tina_.

She gasped when they got inside the lighthouse. It was a building full of stairs and spiderwebs. Light came through the small windows, revealing floating dust. “Oh it’s cool inside here!”

The abandoned lighthouse had 250 steps, or so that’s what the locals told him. Newt passed that information to Tina though he never really counted the steps because on that day he was excited but also anxious about the possibility of a dragon sighting in Nortefract. He yelled at Tina to save her breath when she excitedly started climbing the stairs.

Tina yelled back that it’s like Ilvermorny all over again.

 _Just like Hogwarts and its astronomy tower, then_. Newt thought.

Eventually, Tina was slowing down and Newt managed to catch up to her. She laughed, making her chest go up and down quickly. They continued to climb the second half of the stairs together with Tina in front of him.

The view was stunning. The ocean glistened like it was made of diamonds and the horizon was blue with streaks of high clouds. The waves rumbled below them as they saw the colourful umbrellas on the uneven shoreline. Inside the abandoned lighthouse it smelled like fish, but nevertheless, it was a perfect place.

Tina walked out to the rusty railing that was supposed to keep them safe from the 200 feet drop.

“Newt, we can sit in here,” she showed him a clean spot under the shade in front of the outer wall and he walked towards her, putting his case down.

They sat facing the ocean, with mouths full of doughnut. A particular strong wind that brought sand hits their faces and they both scream as the wind knocks Newt’s doughnut out of his hand. He clumsily attempted to catch the sweet doughnut, resulting in Tina laughing.

Now they were into their main menu— potted shrimp. Tina examined the meal and her brows furrowed; she stared at Newt and waited.

Newt glanced at her and the sight of her confusion amused him. He passed her a thick slice of buttered toast. “Try to eat it with this.”

He showed Tina how to spread the shrimp and butter on the toast then Tina gave a nod of approval to Newt when she tasted the meal.

They sat quietly, savouring the meal. “I appreciate English food even more, now,” she told him. “Is it really this good or am I just really hungry?”

He laughed and wiped off a drop of butter under her lips with his thumb. “You must be starving since you ran up the stairs pretty fast.”

She smiled suggestively. “Oh, I like to run. I think maybe I was one of the fastest at Ilvermorny.”

The ocean shimmered behind Tina, giving her skin an indescribable glow; her hair was slightly damp from the humidity and it somehow suited her. Newt felt a churning emotion rising in his stomach as he realised that Tina’s was going back to New York tomorrow.

He must have lost his mind because the next thing he knew, he had asked Tina in all seriousness.

“Tina, would you run away with me?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow this chapter's kinda blue. I'm preparing them for some conversation later :)  
> OKAY so tell me what do you think about this chapter? What do you want to see in the next chapter? What do you think gonna happen with Newt and Tina? I'd love to read your comments! And thank you, thank you so much for reading my work <3


	6. Delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, sorry because this chapter took a long time to write. This one was particularly hard to write and both of my wrists were hurt so I needed to take a rest. It's the longest chapter with 4800 words, so I hope it all worth it. And please forgive me for the occasional grammar mistakes.  
> Also, if you can listen to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfcpbvzCiJY) while/before reading the second part (after the line) it would be great!! Happy reading.

Tina put her toast down. “What do you mean?”

His mouth said nothing. He looked like he just regained his consciousness after a moment. Anticipating, Tina stared at him. Why so sudden? She knew that it was not meant to be a joke. It was a surprisingly serious question, in the middle of a normal conversation.

A brief glance between them occurred and Newt cleared his throat nervously. Looking down to his hands, his eyes closed tightly for a second. His mouth formed a slight smile as he said in a hoarse voice, "No, it's nothing, Tina."

Tina could’ve just smiled and waved it off. She should’ve just taken her toast and eat it. But instead, a sound similar to laugh came from her mouth. It felt like her throat tightened up. “Newt, what did you mean by run away?”

Reading Newt's face was hard. His eyes were locked on an unknown spot, his breath was even. No, his breathing was too even for him. "I meant later," he said, giving her his usual nervous smile. "When… the time is right."

One heartbeat. Two heartbeats.

“Okay,” she said, before catching a long breath. Tina could've just stopped there. Newt's words gave her an idea of what he meant, but she needed some certainty. Some assurance from him. She hoped she didn’t push him too far when she said, “You didn’t answer my question.”

The wind whistled in Tina's ear. From the top of the lighthouse, the waves sounded like a peal of distant thunder. A cloud passed in front of the sun and cast a shadow on them. Their meals were lying on top of his case, forgotten.

Newt hesitated for a moment, but then those pair of hazel eyes stared directly at her—a grown determination. His gaze held on her. Suddenly blood rushed quickly from and to her heart before he gently said, “Us.”

Us. _Us._ Newt said it like it had a much thicker layer of meaning. What _us,_ exactly? The one like—Tina cursed herself silently— _until death do us part_ ? So what that would be, run away as an _us_ ? Run away as _being an us_?

It was a subtle word. Was she blushing? Tina repeated him, her voice croaked, “Us.”

Tina used to always had plans. She had a plan when she was about to leave Ilvermorny, meaning living alone with her own self while Queenie at school. She had a plan when they kicked her out of the investigating team. She had a plan during her stay in Paris, looking for Credence.

Her plan changed when she started to maintain a correspondence with Newt. Her plan changed when she read that magazine. Her plan changed when he showed up in Paris.

For once Tina realized, from the very first time she let this man interfered with her life, her plan is not hers alone.

It's theirs. And Newt had expressed his thought about a future with her. Assuming their future selves are alive and well after whatever was going to happen in front of them.

And to be honest, Tina had never seriously thought about having a future with him. Some long time ago, she did think about welcoming him on New York; they would spend a peaceful, proper alone time, without another war happening. But that was it. The moment she thought he was about to marry his old flame, she let go the thought of him.

Newt stared at her. There was a lingering hope on his eyes when he heard her saying that word. A crooked smile set and his voice came off so unlikely him.

"Tina," he said hesitantly, "I've seen the world—well, part of it—and it was much more than what we get used to seeing. I kept thinking about you and me… and maybe someday when this war is over…"

“Travelling the world with you?” she whispered.

His expression turned wistful. "You're aware that I live a kind of nomadic life, without a real schedule from the ministry. I... could be away for one month to Galapagos, another month back in London, and then—this is really happened—being sent for another two to South Africa. I am also aware that you have a job that… that you love," he nodded at her. "But, Tina, we could be worlds away, and it would be hard to maintain our—I mean, maintain contacts if there's more than an ocean between us."

Newt took her hand, and it sent a tingle up her arm. “Move with me.”

Tina stared into his freckled hand, then moved to his face. His eyes took the color of the sky, like a drop of the draught of peace. "Newt, I—I would really much loved…," she sighed, losing her voice. _I undoubtedly want to stay with you,_ a little voice on her head confessed, "But It would not be easy. Losing my job, applying for work visa—"

"You're a great Auror," he interrupted her. "And Theseus would gladly accept you on his team anytime. And about the visa… maybe if we can arrange... _something,_ it would be easier for us?"

Newt held her hand tighter. _Now_ she’s blushing. The underlying meaning could be heard from his words. “Oh,” she said.

They had been together for a mere week, but they had known each other for over a year. Even though only through ink and parchments, it was counted. But she still felt like their relationship was new and delicate. She was afraid of doing or saying something wrong and breaking it.

He released her hand. “I'm sorry,” he said, his ears and neck growing red. “Forget I mentioned—”

“No!” she said. “I mean… that was wonderful. I'm not against it, It is just… it's hard to think about that right now.”

Because unfortunately, it came to her mind that tomorrow reality called back. She had to leave. Alone, to New York.

She cast her dark eyes to him and took his hand to squeeze it. "I'd love to go travelling with you. While you're on your case feeding a new species of magical tortoise, I could just… write a travel journal."

It made him laughed. Probably more like a huff, but his lips grew into a smile. “You could, and you should publish it,” he glanced at her. “ _A Travel Guide for Wizards and Witches_.”

She lightheartedly hit his hand. "Or maybe something more like _Travelling with a Magizoologist: My Life with Newt Scamander_ ,” she joked. “You know, for the money. Make the gossip magazines come to me!”

Both of them started to laugh. Newt shook his head. "Or we could make one together. _Written by Tina Goldstein and Newt Scamander_.”

“I like that. It's like we're a team, Newt and Tina,” she idly played with his fingers.

He leaned over and kissed her. A sweet, lips-brushed-softly-over-lips kiss.

Everything felt so relaxed and breezy now. They were sitting side by side, continued to eat their toasts in silent. She wasn't sure about what was waiting after them, but she knew it was not going to be a fun ride for their relationship. Why did it have to be so hard?

Tina silently stroked the scars on his hand. She had thought about the two of them before, living in the same house, him making breakfast for them (he did it better than her, she's not gonna lie). Rings on their fingers. Fingers buried on soft reddish locks. Feeding baby hippogriffs.

“Newt and… Porpentina,” he said, nudging his nose to her cheek.

Tina pulled away. He was smirking, a glimpse of playfulness on his eyes. “Newt, no!” she protested.

“It's brilliant. I like the Porpentina one better.”

“Shut up, Newton,” she ordered. Tina nodded her head to their meal. “Now give me another slice of it.”

They sat together cuddling, enjoying each other's presence. Tina can taste a bit of sand on her toast already. She wondered, will she get seasick if they were going abroad using no-maj transportation? She never got into any before, yet she had heard even wand bearers getting queasy on it.

Tina licked her fingers off her meal. Finishing off the last donut—sprinkled with sand on top of it—, they packed their belongings. Newt scolded Pickett for running around the edge of the rail and almost get blown away by the strong wind. He put Pickett back to the case, with his own tree to stay with.

Convinced that all his creatures are safe on the case, Newt led her into the “light room” of the lighthouse. They crept under the engines, which looked like a mechanical jungle, with pipes and tube on the center. Newt showed her something made out of glass, dirty and broken, telling her something about “sun valve”.

“How does this lighthouse thing even work?” Tina asked.

"No idea," Newt said. "All I know is this lighthouse was built for muggle ships to see where the land is, so they wouldn't go too near or their ship would crash the corals."

“Did they use fire to light this up?”

"I believe so, for this old lighthouse. But the newer ones use what they called… electricity. Lamps," he said to her. For a while, he seemed too distracted by how the lighthouse emitted the light, but then stopped after seeing Tina staring at him. He moved towards her with an embarrassed smile.

“It’s okay, Newt.”

He took her hand. “Come on.”

They worked their way past the engines and ducked down to the stairs. Newt held her hand and helped her during the walk on the stairs, which is actually unnecessary, but she appreciated the sweet gesture anyway.

Soft white clouds filled the sky as they walked out from the lighthouse. Tina squinted her eyes, adapting to the bright surrounding. The beach below them filled with running kids and their families. A big cliff on the right side of the beach cast a shadow over the beach.

"Newt, shall we take a walk on the beach again?" she looked at him. He was wearing his usual shirt-trousers-boots, but not an actual three-piece for now. He left his waistcoat and bowtie on, though.

He agreed with her. They both took their shoes off, and Newt rolled his trousers up. Amused, Tina moved towards him and took off his bowtie.

“Loosen up a bit, Newt.”

She made Newt removed his waistcoat and the suspenders. Tina pulled his shirt out, unbuttoned the first few, and made him roll his sleeves. Satisfied after dressing him down, she took a step back and admired him.

Newt looked a bit like the handsome no-maj actor she had seen on the times square billboard before. Tina bit her bottom lip. Of course, he dared to look attractive. _Annoyingly_ attractive.

"Huh," she said, trying not to look too impressed.

She loved the beach. Tina enjoyed the wind howling on her ears, catching sands and bringing it to her hair. They were skimming between young couples and their toddlers, splashing water between their toes. Newt went wild when he caught sight of a puppy, held by two sisters. He randomly pulled some food from his pocket, and the four of them crouched on the sand, watching the puppy's tail wiggling.

If the father of the kids didn't call them back, Tina almost sure that they would spend most of their time playing with the puppy. The sisters made their puppy kissed them goodbye before turning their backs. Newt looked at the two of them running to their father with an unreadable expression. Tina would say that he was thinking about getting a puppy, but that was because she was afraid to think about the other possible option.

But she didn't have to worry about that for a little longer. Newt suddenly tugged her hand, and both of them ran to the upcoming wave. She screamed and laughed, stumbling with water on her ankles, trying to stop him but failed. They turned to face the away from the ocean, and he hugged her from behind as the wave crashed their waist.

A warm feeling rushed through her body while the tide turned back to the ocean. They stumbled as it made their feet sunk deeper to the sand. She looked at Newt, who was grinning.

“What’s a beach vacation without a play on the water?”

Tina turned to tackle him, but he got away with unexpected agility. She tried to chase after Newt, but it looked like he had done this before, probably with a magical creature, because he moved on the water easily. Also her wet, floating skirt didn't serve any help at all.

When he caught her for the third time, Newt lifted her up—she yelled some mild profanity at him (because there were kids around them)—and they swayed recklessly. Tina recalled the second time they kissed, on his menagerie, the tension that was built between them. If they were alone, at an isolated beach, she would probably pull him on a heated kiss.

Or maybe not, because the next wave was unusually high and the water splashed on their faces. At the shore, children were screaming and running to their mothers. The adults were laughing, lifting their kids to the sky.

She glanced at Newt. He held both her and his case protectively it was almost sweet. He was laughing but his eyes shut tightly. Tina wiped his face and combed his hair backwards, just like what she did when they took a bath together. He smiled and frowned at her, who was laughing at him.

“You looked good with your hair like that, you know,” she told him when he put his hair back. _You also looked good with wet shirt clinging on your body, Newt._

Newt glanced up and managed to put a shy smile to her. It made her heart melted, but a combination between his smile and wet clothing also did other stuff to her body. Tina had to make a conscious effort not to just jump into him.

So she stepped back, flirtily winked at him, and ran to the shore as fast as she can with her skirt floating around her.

* * *

 

He sat right up and draped his shirt on her. Not taking his eyes off her, Newt swept strands of hair off her face. The way his eyes lit up and his lips curved upward as he ran his hand made the gesture felt much more intimate. They held the gaze between them, drowning themselves into each other’s eyes. 

As his eyes wandered away from her, he cupped her cheeks gently and pulled her into a forehead kiss. His fingers were slowly stroking her jaw, massaging it. Tina ran her fingers down his neck, lightly tracing his scars.

His hand tilted her jaw slightly, his head moved down, and he met her forehead to forehead.  "Porpentina," he whispered, closing his eyes.

Tina didn’t like it when someone said her name that way, but she would make an exception for Newt. Tina knew she had fallen for him when she actually enjoyed being called like that.

She placed a simple kiss on his lips. Her fingers ran across his smooth, messy curls. Her hand pulled him into a hug—a tight, needy one. Newt held her back, his hand slowly caressing her back. Tina inhaled his body scent deeply, burying her face on his neck.

Why did she feel so afraid to tell him that?

-

_London's skyline was covered in grey clouds. Lightning ran across a glimpse of sky between two tall buildings._

_He finally opened the door. Tina pulled him inside by his shirt, there were thrills in their eyes. Newt closed the door behind them as she threw her coat and put his case down. They both threw their shoes teasingly on each other._

_Tina pushed him to the door—she could see how Newt liked it. He was smiling shyly, but there was a playful glint in his eyes. Biting her lip, she moved towards him. After spent some teasing moments peeling his jacket and waistcoat, she threw herself into him—lips chasing and nose grazing. He did catch her after all. Merged lips stole their breaths away, moulding their shape together._

_Long, coarse fingers were running down her spine and shifting downward to her backside, pulling her closer. Newt took her knees up as she buried her nails on the back of his neck. He picked her body up, up—her legs automatically wrapped around his hip tightly without her thinking. Tina pushed herself closer, closer to him, fingers pulling on the soft locks of him._

_They were stumbling across his sitting room, arms in his shoulders and hands in her bottom. He growled, hungrily tasting her still, bumping on several items of furniture. When an accidental crash happened, they laughed on each other’s lips._

_She sighed when Newt leaned down and put her down. Tina can feel the cold kitchen countertop under her. His hands ran across her chest, hastily unbuttoning her blouse, and she did the same. Her legs still hooked on his waist, keeping him close._

_He threw his shirt to the floor. She smiled and took her brassiere off in a seducing way, her blouse pooled on her waist together with her skirt. Their gaze wandered, feasting upon the view reserved for them alone._

_-_

Tina faced the other way as she let out a little cough.

Newt let go of her; his hands held her shoulders as he laughed softly, his brows arched. “Do you still have your voice?”

“Of course!” she laughed, embarrassed by what he just implied. “Just—” _cough_ “—a bit dry.”  

“I’ll make you some ginger tea for that,” he said. Still wearing nothing, he stood up and opened his cabinet.

Tina gazed at him, admiring how easily he did stuff with his hands. Sure, she could make her own tea. But she had seen him on his basement, cutting meat like a butcher, sorting beans in surprising speed, and wrapping a fresh wound efficiently like a healer. It wasn't just his strong arms and skillful hands, though Tina like those just fine ( _just fine_ is a mild way of putting it), but the way he acted so serious and confident. She couldn't blame Bunty for having a crush on him. He might be annoying for not following rules, but when it came to his work, the man had his talent naturally.

Also, Newt was on his sexiest while caring his creatures. That was exactly why Tina zoned off looking at him preparing a tea. She had a weakness for awesome cute guys.

Suddenly he looked at her and smiled. “Do you want some milk with it?”

Ignoring him, she blatantly ran her eyes across his body. She winked, and his ears turned red.

She watched in amusement as the color rising up into his face. “No,” she answered. “But sugar is fine.”

-

_His touch left her gasping. Tina didn’t even try to conceal her gratified moan as Newt bit her neck, leaving marks here and there. Nails were dug into his flesh, hair was pulled. She whimpered as he grunted into her ear, hands squeezing her breasts._

_“Newt, Newt, Newt…,” she chanted his name as his lips moved lower, lower down to the crook of her neck. He stopped for a while and looked up to her with his hazel eyes._

_Tina took that moment to free Newt from her legs and pushed him back to the other side of the room. He stumbled backwards and she caught both of his wrists—pulling it upward, pushing it towards the wall and held it there._

_He glanced and smirked coyly at her._

_He definitely enjoyed it._

_Using her jaw, Tina forced his head to move, exposing freckled skin on his neck. Newt gasped as she sunk her teeth into the sensitive zone. She tasted and tasted, down his throat, growing bolder with every writhes from him._

_“Tina—let—me—touch you,” he groaned, face flushed and body trembled under her touch. She met his eyes, now darker and hungry._

_Tina bit his bottom lip lightly, “And what would happened if I don’t let you?”_

_-_

It started to rain outside. Lightning flared on the other side of his window. A few seconds later, the thunder rumbled above them, sending a soft tremble to the ground. They sat silently, her head on his shoulder, him playing with her hair. She sipped her tea and felt the warmth spread through her chest.

Tina looked around: a neat sitting room merged with the kitchen. Not very neat, though. An empty kettle and broken vase were lying miserably on the floor, probably pushed away during Newt’s attempt to brought them to the kitchen. The room gleamed under the soft light, looking very much different from the basement.

Sitting there with Newt, she recalled a few days ago, when she was confused and hurt, alone by herself in his house. Tina hadn’t realized how much burden she had been in until Newt made his way to her—keeping her safe, keeping her home.

He _did_ feel like home. Tina made a small promise to herself to not losing him again.

“Tina?”

She sipped her tea again. “Yeah?”

“I think there's a lot of sand in our hair. Should we take a bath?” Newt pulled his hand from her hair and showed her sand grains.

Tina examined the sand and turned to him. "Weren't you grossed out?”

He frowned. “What from?”

“We just dipped ourselves in the ocean, and even though we dried ourselves... I do aware that there are sands everywhere," she explained. "And you were still… you know."

“I shall ask you the same question.”

Tina laughed at his remark. "We do need to clean! But, Newt, how about dinner first?"

-

_“This,” he hissed and pushed Tina back._

_They rolled, and he changed their position. With Tina's back leaning on the wall, Newt used his hands to push down the thin fabric on her hip. She kicked it off as she struggled with Newt's trousers. His mouth pulled her into a sloppy kiss before moved down her jawline._

_His hand skimmed under her skirt, and when his fingers slipped between her thigh, she squirmed. It felt so good, too good—_

_“Tina. My Porpentina. Look at you, all for me,” he murmured into her ear, appreciation clear in his voice as he circled on her silken skin, spreading the moisture around. She gritted her teeth when his finger drew back to her clit. Using his other hand, Newt pulled her knee upward to opened her more to his touch._

_“Yes, yes, Newt—I’m yours—always yours—” she panted, her face buried on his shoulder._

_She cried, head fell back as his rough thumb circled deliriously on the tiny bundle of nerves. It made her knees weak, it made her let go of his pants and put her arm around him, trying hard to stand still. Newt pushed Tina more to the wall, pulled her leg higher, and dipped a finger inside her. And another._

_He rested his head on her shoulder, breathless, and continued to move roughly inside her walls, his palm deliciously slammed on her clit. Tina struggled to form a sentence as her edge coming. “Newt, I—I want you. Please—ah—have me,” she said, speech faltering through gritted teeth._

_The flame consumed her quickly, flooded her stomach, reaching out into the tips of her fingers. In the end, it burst behind her eyes._

_-_

She massaged his head.

He sat between her legs, inside the bathtub, and she was resting comfortably behind him. Hot water running on his legs, filling the tub.

Newt had made her feel amazing—in a lot of ways—during her stay, so this was something small to give back to him. He said no one ever gave him a massage him before, except if Tina wanted to count when a kneazle kneaded his thigh. She also never really massaged anyone before, but Tina had one when she went to the hairdresser. Besides, now she had a real excuse to ran her fingers through his hair and made funny hairstyle. She totally laughed it off when she turned his hair into a giant spike.

He gave her a toothbrush—on her last night.

“I chose the green one, reminded me of your pyjamas in New York,” Newt said, handing her a brand new toothbrush.

Tina took it from him hesitantly. He gave her the toothpaste. A minute later, they brushed their teeth while glancing on each other as if on a mission to see who can last longer.

“Should I leave it here or should I take it home?”

He shrugged. “You can bring it, if you want.”

She left the toothbrush together with his. She hoped it was enough a statement to him that she would come back.

-

_“Tina, are you sure?”_

_The hand on her neck gently put her head down to the sofa. She sighed, enjoying the softness and comfort under her skin. Her arms around his neck pulled Newt’s head down and their gaze met. She had never felt like this before. Pulling her arm, she grazed her finger lightly on his freckles, forming a constellation. His temple. His eyelid. His nose. His lips._

_“I am,” she whispered, eyes locked into him. She loved him. She needed this. She wanted this._

_There must have been something with her expression. “Don’t worry,” Newt reassured her, placing a kiss above her eye. “I… I'll try not to hurt you.”_

_Trying to relax, Tina nodded and breathed slowly. She was prepared. She had thought of having this man, only for her, accepting him to be part of her._

_His fingers once again slipped inside her gently, his thumb_ _slowly circling her clit, almost as agonizing as a tease. It drove her crazy, and as she needed more, she needed more, he withdrew and added the third._

_The stretch was uncomfortable, but there was no pain. His eyes never left hers as they both panting, fighting for air. Newt gently loosened her up, stretching her. Tina squealed when he withdrew and brought the wetness to her clit, rubbing her tightly until she writhes with need._

_She thrust her hips into his, asking for another kind of friction. Newt leaned down slightly, and Tina can feel the hard length rubbing against her core—they both gasped from the sensation. His hips rolled deliciously, sending a new kind of pleasure onto her body, her mind. Panting, she wrapped her hand around him and guided him to her entrance._

_For a second, Newt looked precarious. Tina touched his jaw and nodded slowly._

_Their forehead touched and he pushed forth._

_It was the burning feeling between her thighs that caused Tina to cry against his mouth. But instead of drawing back, Newt continued to push into her gently as he soothed her with kisses—on her temple, on her eyelid, on her lips—while stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. Until he's completely merged with her._

_Tina opened her eyes, looking directly into his. “Newt, stay there for a while. I… I want to feel you.”_

_He stayed still. With his hands shaking, he whispered into her lips, "My strong Auror. My perfect, beautiful Tina." He took a sharp breath, "You feel amazing."_

_It took Tina a few moments to get used with the sensation, the hard pressure on her stomach. But when Newt started to withdrew and thrust into her, the pain fused together with pleasure._

_Meeting her eyes, he started to whimper as they moved together. She pushed herself into him, trying to take him deeper. A loud moan escaped from her mouth as he repeatedly hit the sweet spot inside her._

_And when their bodies fell to pieces, it fell into the right places._

_-_

His breath came steady, and it calmed her. The lamp flickered, his face ghostly and peaceful under the amber light. His hair spread across his forehead; little stubbles started to fill his cheek. Tina didn’t dare to move; she laid still, gazing on Newt’s sleeping face.

Tina didn’t deny that sometimes it made her scared, the thought of being alone. Her most recent thought included about what if Queenie and Jacob moved to England, leaving her alone? At that time, she was sure that Newt wouldn’t come back to New York.

He did not come back to New York, though. But he did come back to her.

She never thought about finding someone she could think as home. About finding someone she wanted to stay with in bed all day, without feeling like it was a waste of time.

Tina loved it, the feeling of being in love. She loved it, how he could bring out the other side of her, how he made her laugh carelessly. Newt opened her up to other possibilities, ignited the spark in her. He knew her, as a person.

He’s the one she wanted to stay with, to gray with.

She stared at him. _I love you. I hope you love me as well, Newt._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was heavily inspired by [this song I mentioned before](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfcpbvzCiJY) from The Crown's Princess Margaret's love scenes, because the song feels like it has two layers of it, you get me? The fiery joy as the top layer, and the deep, romantic love, almost sad feeling as the bottom layer. I legit replayed the song 1000 times during the writing process.  
> Also, I need to tell you that I love you and I will continue this story even though it probably will take quite some time to update. Please stay with me until the last chapter; there will be a surprise.  
> And btw [I'm writing Newtina modern AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17740967)!! If you ever wanted to read it.
> 
> Comments fuel my energy to write this fic. Please tell what do you think (because, you know, i hurt my wrists for this so please, a comment would make my day)! Kiss kiss, love love,  
> Nadia.
> 
> EDIT: I promise I WILL continue this story. Please give me time. Will take a little bit longer. I know, I'm sorry. But I will continue this.


	7. Intertwined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe—just maybe—they shouldn't do this. Now that the reality had caught them, fears overshadowed him.
> 
> Usually, he wasn’t the worrier type.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know, shame on me for updating this after 37438 years. SORRY, I love you all *crawls back to under the desk*

Everything happened so quickly. 

Warm light flickered, and the mattress began to shift once he turned his body. Tina had her back faced him, dark hair pooled on the pillow. The slow movement he made didn't bother her; her shoulder moved up and down calmly. Newt watched her unabashedly, his eyes moved from one mark to the others on her bare shoulder, her bare back, her bare hips.

_ Newt, I’m yours—always yours— _

The feeling of her touch still lingered on his lips, beneath his fingers, under his skin. Marking his neck, scratching his back.

They stole time and ran away with it to catch the high tide Newt had been waiting for since the farewell on the gangplank. Something he’d been attempting since forever. A few months  _ did  _ feel like forever.

But the sky grew darker as the new moon rose in daylight, and Newt didn't know what to expect. Would the current sweep her away, leaving him alone and stranded? Would it take her away from him, as fast as they drowned Leta? 

Or what if they took  _ him _ ?

His fingers grazed her back, slowly making a pattern, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin. It really wouldn’t be a problem for her, Newt thought. Tina's tenacious, she’d be okay. She'd move on with her life. Newt has more concern for his creatures—it was almost impossible to ask anyone to take care of them, even to Tina or Bunty. He couldn’t leave his foster kids to just anyone—and that became his sole motivation. 

Newt had to force himself to pull his hand and stood up. Yesterday's clothes were piling on top of the chair near the bed, still smelled like last night. Absentmindedly, he took his dressing robe from the hanger and wrapped it on his body. He tried to be as quiet as possible when he opened his creaking door—Tina moved a bit, covering part of her arm with the blanket. He sighed. Slowly, Newt made sure the blanket covered every inch of her body before left the room.

Cold air stabbed his lungs. The small bedroom was warm with two people inside. The hallway was dimly illuminated from the light he cast on his wand. Part of him was upset that he didn't do this as soon as he could. They both could enjoy their time together even longer, but Newt also felt that maybe—just maybe—they shouldn't do this. Now that the reality had caught them, fears overshadowed him.

Usually, he wasn’t the worrier type. 

Newt walked across his kitchen towards the basement door and mumbled the unlocking charm. The door swayed back, glimmering light from the fake moon seeping through his kitchen floor. 

Did they make the right decision to get together in this circumstance? 

The mooncalves saw him and made some happy noises while jumping around. He smiled at them. From behind the cupboard, Newt took an empty bucket and ran water into it. 

Would it hurt less if one of them had to sacrifice themselves if they didn't stay as one? 

_ We’re a team, Newt and Tina. _

Freddie the Fwooper ducked to avoid Newt's reckless throw of mop cloth. The bird shrieked in protest to Newt. The thought was a painful hit for him. He didn't want to lose her, nor anyone. He  _ couldn't _ lose Tina. It's probably best for now if they left each other—because you couldn’t lose what you don't own, right? 

That thought was ridiculous as hell. He loved her. He  _ needed _ her. 

He'd done his part during the Muggle World War. Newt had seen his older mates received letters from their loved ones—he had seen it all—the joy on their eyes when their wife sent them a piece of hair from their newborn children; the painful grieve when Aurors found out about their dead family. 

Or that one time he had to attend a ceremony in which the ministry presented fallen soldiers' Order of Merlin to their children.  

Newt had trouble swallowing the meal served after the ceremony.

People lost their loved ones. Theseus lost Leta.  _ He _ lost his childhood best friend, his future sister-in-law. What if—?

The water flowed over the bucket and spilt onto the floor. Awakened from his muse, Newt took the bucket and pour the water into a big old cauldron to make a wet food mix. 

Newt has been very acquainted that Tina was an extraordinary Auror; she'd probably make a better soldier than him. He didn't underestimate her abilities. But in a war, anything—even the worst ones in your nightmare—could happen. 

And that brought him to why, for a split second, Newt had this egoistic idea about running away and took Tina together with him. To the edge of the world. Starting a new nomadic life together. At first thought, it sounded rational enough, not even a bit crazy. 

It's a life gamble. You could choose to save Queenie and help them defeat Grindelwald with the cost… of everything you loved. Or you could decide to flee with your loved ones and leave everyone else. Leave the world you've known.

He went through the Bowtruckle's Wiggentrees to get into the Hippogriffs' forest. The Zhou Wu roared far from the window beside. Newt idly poured the wet food to the smaller pan for the Hippogriff cubs. 

There was a time when he lost and didn't give any fuck about the magical community. What morality? Being against Grindelwald didn't mean they were good people. Didn't mean they didn't crave the same power over the wizarding community, over the innocent creatures, over muggles. 

Like these mooncalves. He took a handful of pellets and threw it towards them. The unprotected. Newt ran his hand on their smooth, glittering colour-shifting feather as they caught the floating pellets. 

He was aware that the ministry tried to use him a couple times.  _ Theseus Scamander's brother—talented but a moron _ , they whispered _. The only pureblood that doesn't care with his own kind—traitor—what a waste _ , they chattered. 

_ You could get more gold if only you accepted the Auror offer.  _

_ Ungrateful brat. Being an Auror is thousands of other wizards' and witches' dream, but you threw it all away?  _

_ Why he chooses that career? The monsters won't give him any money, they'd probably eat him alive. I said mental, that one. _

Dumbledore also used him, but Newt has a soft spot for the wizard. He's the only Professor who defended Newt when they tried to expel him after Leta's accident. Albus fought for Newt's wand ownership which gave him another chance. On its own way, he also protected Leta from any allegations. 

And since Dumbledore couldn't move on his own against Grindelwald, on second thought, Newt would stay around this time. But not for the Professor—for his brother. For Queenie and Jacob. 

For hopefully, a better future.

A peek from the only real window on his basement. His clock—the one with the floating planets instead of two metal hands like muggle' s—was moving quietly, proofing what the window showed earlier. Bunty should've been there three hours from now, which meant he still had time to discuss some essential things with Tina freely. 

Newt was about to do the same routine the first night she was there. Newt was clumsy and elated on having Tina on his side, sleeping on his embrace. They have just had their first kiss a few days ago but now...

He glanced to the sofa—how the heck did that happen?

With a swish of his wand, the eggs levitated and cracked themselves open to the boiled water. The bread toasted itself as he prepared a bottle of cold greek yoghurt, warming it up. 

Newt was definitely going to miss it—waiting for her to wake up instead of eating his breakfast right while it’s still cooking. Cooking for two, instead of one. 

Stirring his yoghurt with olive oil, he thought, Tina and Theseus clearly had a similarity: their loved ones were taken by Grindelwald. Will they able to work together?

It wasn't a lie that the next thing that came to his mind was asking Tina to move with him. Newt didn't know yet what kind of stuff tying her to New York, outside her work. Or Jacob. It was not going to be as simple as the time Theseus announced that he was engaged with Leta and they were living together. 

They've talked on the course of months being separated by the Atlantic ocean. Newt kept telling himself that they've known each other for more than just two weeks and an unreal weekend.

But would she think the same?

The poached eggs and the toasts are now ready; he laid those above the greek yoghurt. He put the plates and the teacups on a tray and brought it to his room.

Tina was still sound asleep, her breathing came calmly. The air, once again, sucked out from his lungs. It always felt surreal, seeing her asleep. Newt used with Tina looking so uptight and serious, the light in her eyes was intense and guarded. But she was there, so open and vulnerable, tender and in peace. He really needed to stop with all the negative thoughts roaming his head and started to relish the fact that she was still there, in his bed.

Newt placed the tray on his desk and sat on the edge of the bed. Tina still had her back to him; so as if he was pulled by force, he put kisses on her neck, her back, any part of her he could reach.

She hummed. 

He put her into a snuggle while lying kisses on her neck. "Morning, breakfast is ready."

Tina hummed again, this time more like a protest, pulling herself closer to him. "Hmm. Why are you up?" her voice a bit slurred. "We need to talk about this habit of yours… you don't wake people up at dawn."

"It's six in the morning, sleepyhead. You don't want a cold breakfast, do you?"

Tina grunted as an answer, and once again tucked herself inside the blanket. 

"Cold poached egg is no one's favourite," Newt murmured into the crook of her neck. 

Tina frowned at him with her eyes closed. "Ten more minutes… I'll take the tepid poached egg anytime."

"I'm starving," Newt sulked and playfully kissed her neck, his right hand caressing her hips. Her changing breathing pattern gave him the courage to lower his right hand, dangerously close to her inner thigh. 

“You could eat yours first,” Tina said softly, her eyes still closed but she was smiling.

"I don't want to eat alone," Newt whispered in her ear. He pulled himself to Tina, cradled her close. She moved back to close the remaining space between them, and Newt found himself feeling bolder. His hands snaked upwards and fondled her breasts. "So hungry I could eat you up right now."

Her entire body suddenly tense. She breathed, low and slow, before whispering, "But the breakfast will get really cold."

"I thought you don't care about that," he said, kissing down her spine.

* * *

 

The Kelpie's pool surface was shimmering as the fake sun rose above them. Water splashing under their feet, just like a couple days ago. Tina sat next to him, the stone on her neck reflected the sunlight.

Earlier, Tina came out wearing the clothes they bought together. A cream blouse with long, navy pants. It reminded him of something he bought secretly while she went to the changing room. 

Newt stared in awe, forgetting how to close his mouth. “I—I have something for you,” his voice choked. With a little effort since his legs suddenly felt like a pudding, Newt stood up and reached his coat behind the door.

The little bright yellow box was buried inside the pocket. Newt hastily removed the box out of Tina's sight, because of obvious reasons. He didn't want her to misinterpret this.

Tina was trying out the clothes in the changing room as he bought it. Newt didn't know why he chose it—he wondered if Tina would like more meaningful things, but he knew that she wore her parent's locket everywhere, and he wanted the item.

“What's that?” her face beamed up and eyes following his hand. Newt felt his heart jumped right into his adam's apple. 

“A little thing,” he said and opened his palm in front of her.

Tina stared on his palm, looked back at him in disbelief, and took the necklace. It's a delicate, humble silver necklace with turquoise teardrop pendant. The same colour as the sea in the back of their tiny cottage.

Light shone through the tiny pendant, leaving a blue mark on her face. Tina gasped, looking very much delighted. She put it on herself easily like she wore necklaces all the time and beamed at him. "I love it. Thank you."

Newt lost his voice for a moment. “It can’t do anything magical,” he added quickly to cover his pause. “It’s just… a necklace. But also I got you this.”

"Another?"

That one time he was inside Dumbledore's office, he watched him talking to someone through a mirror. Turned out such magic exists (Newt never really have someone to talk to). He did his research and found out that Gallowglass's shop in Diagon Alley had the object he was looking for.

Tina eyed the little package on his hand. It's crushed inside a brown paper, nothing seemed unusual from it. He handed it to her. "Open it," he said. 

She still has her cute smile on her face. Then she looked a bit puzzled after. It lasted for ten seconds before her lips made a lovely perfect "o".

“It’s a— “

“A two-way mirror,” he said. “Inside a locket. I’ve got one of the pairs. Just said my name and… we could talk anytime we want.”

Tina examined the locket, circling it between her fingers. Newt couldn't really read her face whether it's concerned or disbelief. 

“It’s… not much—it's not a massive mirror—and probably a bit egoistic on my side, really, but—”

“Yeah. We don’t have to wait for days again,” she smiled. There's something inside his chest glided down in relieve. “I could be on my kitchen, preparing dinner, while you’re sitting over there, making sketches.”

Newt couldn't help but stare on her again while he can. Tina smiled, a bit shy, shading herself from his eyes. Her lashes fluttered as she took a deeper breath.

He took her hand. “We could have dinner together.”

“I could have dinner while you’re having a midnight snack,” she laughed. “And we could talk about anything. No one’s going to snoop on our letters again.”

A moment before she added, “I’d still miss you, though.”

“We’d meet again. Soon.”

“Very soon.”

Tina tiptoeing a few steps into him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “This—these are perfect. Thank you.”

“Don’t let the Niffler steal it.”

Still smiling, she pulled the longer chain on her neck and put the locker in. The necklace now has a bigger locker on it, hiding under her blouse.

And so they sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the KKelpie while splashing water on their feet. Tina nudged her nose to his neck, hugging him closer and say, in a muffled voice, "I don't know what to do without Queenie back home."

He stared at her. She's hiding her face on his neck, and Newt can feel this is something that's been bugging her, but she's too afraid to talk it out. Newt wondered if their short getaway affected the slight tone of guilt on her voice.

Stroking her cheek, he said, "You'd do great. Theseus will update you with every piece of information he receives—"

"—which could be bad news—"

“It won’t.”

There were tears in her eyes, but it never fell—she looked up to the purplish sky, trying not to lose herself. 

“Anyway," Tina forced a smile, "I'm glad that with Thes and Dumbledore's help, Jacob is safe now. I can’t imagine how hard it would be for us if MACUSA knows. I might just take Jacob and stay here if they didn’t help us.”

It felt as if his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

“So… you had thought about that?” Newt asked, a bit afraid to hear Tina's answer. 

She looked at him funny. It seemed like Tina didn't know that he'd been dying to ask her on this topic. “Moving?”

He nodded—maybe a bit too fast.

"I'd be lying if I said no," she sighed. "We did move every few years, Queenie and me."

“Ma and Pa passed when Queenie was just on her first year in Ilvermorny. So, when the holidays came... we're practically nomads," Tina explained, her voice seemed distant.

"New York had been our home for roughly seven years since I got an internship on MACUSA. We didn't live in our apartment in Manhattan before—that was just three years ago when I got promoted as an Auror. Last year, when they demoted me? I was terrified we couldn't afford our place. The wand permit job didn't pay much."

Her eyes running around the room but never fell on Newt. It seemed like Tina had been pondering about this for quite some time. "Queenie did state about her… wish to move here. Has she ever write to you?"

It surprised Newt. Queenie had sent her regards through Tina's mails but never privately contacted him. Her arrival on his flat was unannounced. "Never."

"She mentioned you a couple times, but we were… not communicating, so I didn't really think much about that. Also, it must be a hard decision for Jacob. He has his whole career in New York."

Her cold fingers tapping the back of his hand lightly. From the side of his eyes, Newt caught her stealing glances on him. "So yeah, I did think about that," Tina continued. "I can get a job here, Thes said they're gonna pay me better, the Brits MoM has better law than MACUSA… but maybe for later. You know—when we… get into the next step."

Her voice went so soft during the last sentence. But Newt didn't really recognise that. 

"Theseus… he offered you a job here?"

"Um—when they were thinking about what if Jacob's plan doesn't run smoothly—he asked me about it."

"He did?" he asked in disbelief, rhetorically. Newt didn't know about that. He was going to visit his brother after Dumbledore send Tina off, so he's going to ask Theseus about it.

He took a deep breath.

"Thank you," Newt said to her, her eyes looked up to him with endearment. "For actually considering that. I did think about moving too, but I don't think New York would be fine with me and my—" he gestured to the menagerie.

It broke Tina into a laugh. Oh, he's going to miss her laugh. "And does London fine with this?"

"No, this is highly illegal," Newt smirked, proud was in his voice. "You know what I meant. Travelling with them is not easy, now think about moving a whole menagerie across the ocean."

Tina’s eyes swept the whole room. The fake sun had risen higher, giving the third part of the menagerie a gorgeous morning shine. 

"Does Thes know about this menagerie? Him being the Head Auror and all?"

Somehow it kind of bugging Newt by how Tina called Theseus. She made it sound like they were close friends already.

"Oh, he knows," Newt answered this lightly. "My neighbours reported some strange voices heard during the night, and somehow there's already a rumour between the Muggles that this street is haunted."

* * *

 

"It's so cold in here," Tina exhaled, fog came out of her mouth. 

Newt took his wand out of his coat, his eyes aware of the surroundings. "It's because we're far in the north."

Waving his wand, Newt formed a Patronus to send a message. A massive silvery figure came out of his wand and streaked into the darkness.

"That was your Patronus? I didn't catch that. What was that?" Tina asked, squinted her eyes to see the glowing light ran away from them.

"You didn't?" Newt grinned, leading Tina to an alley between two tall buildings. "I'm not telling you, you won't believe that."

They walked quickly with wands ready in their hands. “Why did you say that? Of course I’ll believe you,” Tina said.

No answer was given as Newt looked back at her, still grinning. Lights flickered inside the buildings of Hogsmeade. Not so many people roamed the street at this hour, but there were a couple of suspicious-looking wizards talking in a dark corner. 

Tina looked around, frowned at the group in the corner. "Are we going to walk to your school?"

Newt glanced at her, another smile formed on the edge of his lips. "I think apparating is a bit faster," he responded, giving his arm to Tina. "Take my hand."

They appeared right in front of the magnificent wrought-iron gates. It was a dark cloudy night, and the fog hanged down between them. On the sides of the entrance there were two tall stone columns with winged wild boars on each top. A skinny figure emerged from the darkness, walking towards the gate to them.

"Evening," said the shadow.

"Evening, Minerva," Newt hushed, his body scrunched near the locked gate. "I guessed you received my message? We're here to meet Dumbledore for a very non-academic matter."

"He did inform me earlier," Minerva said, her wand tapped the padlock, and the chain glided down smoothly like a snake. The gate creaked open, and they walked inside. 

Minerva closed the gate with a loud  _ clunk _ and tapped the padlock again, the chain snaked back to its place. "He's on his usual," she said to Newt. 

The young teacher didn’t come with them because she was on her patrol shift. Newt took Tina’s hand and walked through the gigantic oak door inside the castle, replaying the moment they were there a few days ago inside his head. The night they sent Jacob off to one of Dumbledore’s “friend” house. A safe house, he said. They took a turn in front of the empty great hall to the staircases.

"This school is ridiculous," Tina whispered, jumping from the missing stair, following Newt’s steps. "This is so impractical, what if the students fall? And moving staircases? Really?"

"If you're a student, you'll automatically jump on staircases," Newt said, “those who forget are mostly the first graders.”

"Mercy Lewis, did they just fall to the ground then?” Tina asked, stunned. The sleeping paintings on the wall took a peek at them and sighed loudly, clearly annoyed. Tina glared at them.

“No, no. They’d hang with their feet below until someone pull them out.” 

“Newt, that is horrible.”

The genuine concern in her voice made him laugh. "It's fun! Doesn't Ilvermorny has these kinds of things?"

“Nope. We have decent staircases that won’t swallow people up.”

“I did say Hogwarts is the best school there is.”

“Still won’t agree with that.”

They walked through the dim third floor corridors whispering and laughing to each other. Newt hoped he could show her the pathway to the Hufflepuff dormitory (and how near it was with the kitchen), but they were running on time because Tina needed to get back to MACUSA before 9 pm New York time. And it was almost 8 pm there. 

Dumbledore was in his office inside the classroom. Stepping inside, Newt recalled a few nights ago when they were both there for a different reason. He felt a little tang on his heart, knowing that Tina won’t be around when he went back home this time. 

Newt knocked when they got into the office door, and the door opened by itself, letting them inside. Dumbledore sat in front of his desk, looking more tired than the usual; but he smiled when gestured them to sit. Silvery objects ready on top of his table, one of those Newt recognised as a small part of broken secrecy sensor. 

“Evening, Dumbledore,” said Newt, walking into the office. 

“Professor,” Tina nodded.

“Ah, good evening. Please sit down,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “Hope the weekend went great?”

“Um, yes,” said Newt awkwardly and glanced to Tina, who looked down staring at her feet. “It was splendid.”

“Terrific! So now, Miss Goldstein,” said Dumbledore in a businesslike voice, “I guess you aware that you cannot let MACUSA know about Mr Kowalski and your monitored action. That also means you cannot write nor visit him during his hiding.”

“A friend of mine is waiting for you right where you’ll appear from the portkey. She will help you arrange this case for MACUSA. We need you to cooperate in any terms for this to work, Miss Goldstein,” Dumbledore added.

Tina listened to him with a serious expression on her face, her hand squeezing Newt’s hand. “It’s been clear, Professor. I’m incredibly grateful for your help.”

Putting his glasses down, Dumbledore smiled weakly. “You’ll get updates too, so no need to worry.”

Tina nodded. 

"Now, shall we begin?" the middle-aged man rose up and walked around the table. "We don't have much time, do we?"

After muttering agreement, Newt and Tina both stood up and followed Dumbledore. He brought the broken secrecy sensor with him and put it on a round table behind them. 

“ _ Portus! _ ” he exclaimed. “Ready whenever you’re ready, Miss Goldstein.”

She squeezed Newt's hand hard enough for it to hurt, but Newt didn't flinch. He brought her grip to his lips, to soothe her, to greet her goodbye. Tina looked at him, her face tensed but firm. She's ready to get back to MACUSA's headquarter. 

Newt could hear her taking a deep breath beside him. It was a little bit hitched as she inhaled. A moment later, Tina proceeded to let his hand go, walking towards the round table. Her hand touched the Portkey, and Dumbledore smiled at her. 

"Goodnight, Miss Goldstein."

“Night, Professor,” she said, nodding to him before turning her head to Newt. “See you again, Newt.”

It felt like all the air was sucked from his lungs. Newt tried to talk, but nothing came out from his mouth, and the Portkey started to glow...

“Ready to go in three— “

_ 'I love you' _ , Newt mouthed, his eyes fixated on Tina’s. She looked surprised, her mouth opened to say something but the Portkey was glowing bright blue already— 

“— two, one!”

And she was gone, vanished into thin air. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the last chapter, woah. I need all the support, the comments from you and I promise I'll finish it ASAP!! Don't forget to subscribe and bookmark so you'll get email notification when i update <3

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to me on Tumblr, [@puffstrikesback !! ](http://puffstrikesback.tumblr.com) I also have [twitter](https://twitter.com/puffstrikesback) under the same name :)


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